INTERIOR Secretary Benhur Abalos yesterday said the war against illegal drugs under President Marcos will be as intense as in the past administration, adding they will try to solve the problem in six years.
“The war against drugs will be as intensive as before on the basis of my oath as a public official in accordance with the Constitution,” Abalos said.
The Duterte government’s war against drugs led to the deaths of 6,252 suspects from July 1, 2016 to May 31 this year, according to data recently released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Some 345,216 suspects, including 15,271 high-value targets, were arrested; P89.79 billion worth of illegal drugs were seized; and 25,361 barangays were cleared of illegal drugs during the same period, according to the PDEA.
Duterte also promised to eradicate the drug problem but failed.
Asked whether the continued drug war will not be bloody, Abalos said: “As I’ve said, the drug war will be pursued relentlessly in accordance with the oath I’ve taken and on the basis of the Constitution.
“(It will be) in accordance with the oath that I have taken based on the provisions of the Constitution, that’s it,” added Abalos.
Abalos said policemen charged with offenses in the performance of their duties in the drug war will be provided legal assistance “to motivate them.”
But he said policemen involved in abuses in the campaign will be dismissed from the service. He urged the public to report any wrongdoing committed by cops so they can be investigated and subsequently dismissed.
“I will make sure that they will be removed from the service,” Abalos said.
He said the government will also focus on eradicating the root causes of the problem, including unemployment and lack of education.
Abalos said government agencies, the church and other stakeholders should help each other to address the root causes of the drug problem.
“Believe me, nothing is impossible, we can do this. And that is what I intend to do — involve the community, from here to the grassroots against this, not only against illegal drugs but against all social ills,” said Abalos.
Asked if he is confident the government can end the drug problem in the next six years, Abalos said: “We will try our best, we will really do our best here.”
Abalos also commended his predecessor, Eduardo Año, for a “fantastic job” in the DILG, including a successful campaign against illegal drugs.
“The former DILG Secretary did well in the anti-illegal drugs campaign. We will continue it but we will put greater focus in building up strong cases against illegal drug suspects to ensure that no cases will be dismissed and they will be spending the rest of their lives behind bars,” said Abalos.
“We will involve other concerned government agencies, and most importantly, the communities, to make sure that we have a comprehensive campaign against illegal drugs,” he added.
On whether the DILG will cooperate with the International Criminal Court investigation on the war against drugs during the Duterte administration, Abalos said: “We have yet to discuss that…Let us see, probably it will be discussed in the next meeting.”
Pressed if he will allow the PNP to participate in the ICC probe, Abalos said: “Well we will have to talk about this in the Cabinet.”
Last week, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said he would seek the reopening of the ICC probe, which was suspended by the ICC in November last year on the request of Philippine officials, citing their own investigations on the killings in the war against drugs.
Abalos also laid out some of the programs that he will push during his tenure as DILG secretary, including the construction of facilities and acquisition of equipment for the jail and fire bureaus, and interconnecting close-circuit television cameras in Metro Manila to better address crimes.
He also vowed to further capacitate local government units so they can provide better services to their constituents.
