REELECTIONIST Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday said the fight against illegal drugs cannot be solved through a “kid gloves” approach, saying that it should be met with “kamay na bakal” (iron fist) to stop drug traffickers from continuing their illegal activities.
“Sa kampanyang ito, hind mo matatalo itong iligal na droga through petiks-petiks approach or pa-disente disente approach, or yung, you treat this problem with kid gloves. Kailangan talaga kamay na bakal ang gamit mo dito. Otherwise, tatawanan ka lang nitong mga sindikato. Kailangan seryosohin mo ito (We cannot solve the illegal drugs problem through a soft approach or treat this problem with kid gloves. We need iron fists, otherwise, the drug syndicates will just laugh at us. We need to get serious about this),” Dela Rosa said.
He lamented the illegal drug problem has again become prevalent, citing as example recent reports on heinous crimes perpetrated by drug users, including the kidnapping of a 14-year-old Chinese student whose finger was cut off; the man who killed his wife and two children n Cebu; and the case of a three-year-old child and 80-year-old who were raped and killed.
Dela Rosa said this is the reason why he is pushing for the reinstatement of the capital punishment against high-level drug trafficking, which has not been passed in the previous Congress.
“Hindi makalusot-lusot dahil nga medyo controversial (It’s approval is facing delays because it is controversial). But still, I truly believe, I’m really convinced that once this measure is passed, this will be the solution to the problems presently faced by the country,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Dela Rosa has been pushing for the return of the death penalty against persons who will be found guilty of importing and manufacturing dangerous drugs and other illegal substances since elected in 2019.
