Prioritizing prevention and rehabilitation over violence, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday ordered law enforcement authorities to step up the peaceful war against illegal drugs, which has borne results with PhP62 billion worth of shabu interdicted since the start of his administration.
President Marcos emphasized that rather than resorting to violence, his administration’s anti-drug campaign focuses on strengthening prevention and rehabilitation efforts. The President highlighted the importance of helping individuals overcome addiction through enhanced support systems and community-based interventions.
“The new concept of the war against drugs is working. So, we will continue down that vein. And I think we are beginning to see the good effects of that new policy,” the President said in his remarks after inspecting the PhP8.87 worth of shabu and other illegal drugs stockpiled at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) headquarters in Quezon City.
“Number one, mas pinapatibay natin ang ating prevention. Tapos mas pinapatibay natin ang ating rehabilitasyon. ‘Pag nasabit na sa droga ang tao, tinutulungan natin na mabitawan niya ‘yang bisyo na ‘yan,” President Marcos said.
President Marcos referred to the policy under his administration that authorities do not resort to killing people on mere suspicion of being linked to the illegal drug trade.
“I continue to encourage all the Drug Board authorities, the PDEA authorities, and of course, the police, that we must continue with the war against drugs. But we must do it in a peaceful way,” President Marcos said.
“It has been described as a bloodless war on drugs. And this is what we are aiming for. But nonetheless, despite the fact that we do not kill people that are just suspected of having anything to do with drugs, imbis na ganoon ang ginagawa natin, we are handling the drug problem in a different way,” President Marcos added.
The President ordered drug enforcement authorities to put equal emphasis on the prevention of illegal drug use and the rehabilitation of users.
The President also instructed the Philippine National Police and PDEA to continue the drug war against large drug syndicates, while at the same time going after small-time drug traffickers.
“Kaya tinitiyak ng ating kapulisan na marami tayong pulis na nakikita, very high presence ng pulis at kung mayroon mang ganoon, mayroong mga ganoong kaso ay mahuli na kaagad natin,” the President said.
“So, that is what we are continuing to do. We are hitting the drug trade at the highest level and at the lowest level. And we are beginning to see some measure of success. Kaya ipapagpatuloy natin ito,” stressed President Marcos.
The seized PhP8.87 billion worth of shabu and other drugs are scheduled to be destroyed on Wednesday in Capas, Tarlac. I PND
