Drug war: Nearly 3,000 minors nabbed

MANILA, Philippines — Almost 3,000 minors were arrested for alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in the past three years of President Duterte’s war on drugs.

Data from the government’s RealNumbersPH platform showed that 2,915 minors aged four to 17 were nabbed during drug stings since July 2016.

Of the number, 1,619 or 55.54 percent were drug pushers.

Around 768 or 26.34 percent were apprehended for drug possession  while 364 or 12.48 percent were users.

The remaining 164 minors composed  of 144 visitors, 10 employees, seven maintainers, two cultivators and one runner of drug dens.

Sought for comment, PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon said drug rings continue to use minors in their transactions due to Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Law, which provides that children 15 years old below at the time of the commission of the crime is exempted from criminal liability.

Those above 15 years of age but below 18 are also exempted from criminal prosecution unless the child acted with discernment.

“This has been a recurring issue because of the Juvenile Justice Law,” Carreon said in a phone interview.

He said crime groups have been using children in their operations because minors could not be prosecuted under the law.

Children rescued in anti-narcotics operations are turned over to social welfare and development officers for rehabilitation, Carreon said.

A total of 5,601 drug suspects have been killed and 228,678 arrested in 157,275 police operations since 2016.

The PDEA said 18,284 of the 42,045 barangays across the country were declared drug-cleared.

The government has confiscated P42.13 billion worth of drugs, P32.92 billion of which are shabu.