TWO House leaders have lauded the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s bloodless anti-illegal drug campaign, a fact that the Chief Executive cited in his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Speaking in Wednesday’s daily press briefing at the House of Representatives, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers and Deputy Speaker David “Jay-jay” Suarez both said that the Marcos administration’s illegal drug campaign is a resounding success.
“Para sakin kasi, ang parameters to measure the success of this anti-illegal drug programs ay yung taking away the illegal or illicit drugs from the streets. Pag ka ikaw ay nakakuha ng tone-toneladang droga outside of the reach of the dependents, the youth and others, eh hindi ba successful iyon?” said Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.
The President reported in his SONA that more than 97,000 drug suspects have been arrested, 6,000 of whom were high-value targets, including 440 government employees, 42 uniformed personnel and 77 elected officials.
This is so unlike the bloody anti-drug campaign of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, which claimed the life of thousands of Filipinos and is now the core of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for charges of crimes against humanity.
“What is important is that it was really never a policy of this administration to exterminate and yet because of that policy we have produced quite a large achievement as far as taking out drugs from the streets. P44 billion worth ng droga ang tinanggal sa kalsada sa loob lamang ng dalawang taon. So napakalaking achievement iyan,” Barbers said.
Suarez agrees, and cited the success of law enforcement against illegal drugs syndicates.
“I think that would emphasize why we need more police in the street, to specifically combat the proliferation of illegal drugs and I truly applaud the efforts being conducted by the present administration in combating drugs within the bounds of law,” Suarez said.
“Nakita naman natin sa kanyang SONA, indeed challenging but he’s confronting it, he is addressing it and he’s addressing it legally.”
Duterte’s bloody drug war is now the subject of a congressional hearings on the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that occurred during his administration.
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