DoJ Usec: Gov’t yet to eliminate drugs in PHL

By Kristine Joy V. Patag
Reporter

ON THE DAY of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA), an official of the Department of Justice (DoJ) affirmed that the government still had a long way to go in its drug war.

Also on Monday, Justice Undersecretary Antonio T. Kho, together with NBI Director Dante A. Gierran, presented to the media more than P60 million worth of drugs seized by the NBI in an abandoned vehicle in Ermita, Manila, last Friday.

Mr. Kho in a press conference that day said: “We have not yet eliminated drug trading in the Philippines.”

He qualified, however, that he would “prefer not to use the word resurgence,” in contrast to Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II’s remarks early this month that he had received reports of a “resurgence of 5-10%” of the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“The secretary used the term (resurgence) but it might have a negative impact, we would like to emphasize the DoJ, NBI (and) Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) have continuing effort to eliminate drugs,” Mr. Kho said.

“We will continue to courageously implement the mandate of the President,” he added.

Mr. Kho, the newly designated undersecretary for the Bureau of Corrections, said Mr. Duterte himself “recognized” that the government has yet to eliminate the illicit trade — the very promise that catapulted the tough talking former mayor of Davao to the presidency.

Mr. Duterte earlier said 70-75% of the illegal drug trade in the country is sourced from the national penitentiary. The government then deployed members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Forces (SAF) to guard the maximum security compound in the New Bilibid Prison. But in early July, Mr. Aguirre claimed the SAF has been “tainted” by the drug trade due to its prolonged deployment in the NBP.

Of the seized substances, the NBI in a statement said the examination by the agency’s Forensic Chemistry Division showed positive indication of the presence of dimethoxy methylphenethylamine, a dangerous drug connected to psychedelic drugs.

Messrs. Kho and Gierran also showed surrendered bladed weapons and cellular phones from the Bilibid inmates.