Yearender: COVID-19 restrictions derail government anti-drug drive

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s campaign to rid barangays of illegal drugs hit a snag this year because of quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PNP) remains hopeful it would achieve a drug-free Philippines by next year.

Latest data from the government’s Real Numbers PH platform showed there are 23,270 drug-cleared barangays as of Oct. 31, with 12,125 more yet to be cleared.

However, only 2,324 barangays were cleared of prohibited narcotics from January to October this year. In 2020, only 3,130 were removed from the list of drug-affected areas.

President Duterte imposed a community quarantine in March 2020 in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, banning mass gatherings.

In 2019 when COVID-19 was just starting to spread across the globe, 7,817 barangays were cleared of drugs.

PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon admitted that the agency’s program to weed out illegal drugs from the community hit a snag due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Everyone found it difficult because the problem here is part of the barangay drug clearing program is to have interventions,” he said in an interview.

Part of the program is to rehabilitate persons who use drugs or PWUDs through physical sessions, which could not be held as mass gatherings were prohibited during the pandemic.

“The first requisite for an intervention program is to gather them together so we could see how we could help the rehabilitation is for users,” Carreon said.

“How can you conduct intervention for PWUDs and at the same time reformation for drug offenders if mass gatherings are prohibited?” he added.

With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions under the new alert level system, PDEA is hopeful it would be able to clear the remaining barangays of illegal drugs by the time Duterte steps down in June 2022.

PDEA hopes that Duterte’s successor shall continue the anti-drug campaign with the same intensity.

For Carreon, the war on drugs must be free of politics and “should be continued by whoever would carry one after this administration.”

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, PDEA said it still had notable accomplishments in 2021 that significantly affected the activities of drug rings in the country.

Among them is a sting in Imus, Cavite last June 13 wherein 115.85 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu with a street value of P794.59 million were confiscated from a Chinese national.

Last September, around 308 kilos of shabu valued at P2.09 billion were recovered from suspected members of a drug trafficking syndicate. Four Chinese men were also killed in an alleged shootout with anti-narcotics officers.

Another operation in Cavite led to the seizure of 239.55 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P1.62 billion in Dasmariñas City on Oct. 16.