Rody doubting PDEA capability in drug war?

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte appeared to have doubts on the capability of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to curb the drug menace as he chided critics for supposedly underestimating the problem. 

Duterte has placed PDEA in charge of his anti-drug campaign and has prohibited the police from interfering with anti-narcotics operations.

The President issued the directive as his war on drugs and crime faces scrutiny over the death of three teenagers in the hands of policemen.

Duterte admitted that the criticisms against extrajudicial killings had prompted him to pull the police and the military out of the campaign. 

“You have been downgrading the drugs problem. OK. I ordered the military and the police out of the picture. Everyone. Only PDEA. Now, the question you will ask is, ‘Would this agency, a single one, be sufficient to meet the challenges of the drug problem?’” the President said during the anniversary of a television program for migrant workers in Pasay last Wednesday.  

“Would there be enough resources for this agency to deal with the problem effectively? I don’t know. I don’t know because I myself have distanced,” he added. 

Duterte said PDEA only has a few thousand personnel while the number of drug addicts has reached about two million. 

“Some are insisting that there is no drug problem, fine, I agree with you. So the 2,000 members would be enough for the entire Philippines,” he said. 

“When I became President, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos surrendered every day. At the end of the year, last year, it was about 1.3 million… Even China, America, Europe is having a problem. So I’ll just put it mildly, about two million.”

Duterte, who has described the Philippines as a “narco state,” did not say where he got his figure. The President said last year that the drug problem has contaminated about four million people. 

He also claimed that 40 percent of barangays and about 9,000 policemen are involved in illegal drugs.  

Human rights groups said thousands of people have died because of Duterte’s war on drugs but officials insist that there are no extrajudicial killings in the country. 

DDB backs Rody’s directive

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) yesterday expressed its support for the President’s directive designating the PDEA as the sole agency in the administration’s war on drugs.

DDB chair Dionisio Santiago said they would push for additional support for the PDEA in terms of budget from Congress.

“The DDB will help in lobbying for additional support from Congress to reinforce PDEA’s manpower and capabilities. The DDB will also ensure that policies needed to improve the capacity of the PDEA are in place,” Santiago said. – With Romina Cabrera, Cecille Suerte Felipe