Reducing the supply of illegal drugs in the country is one of the priorities of Vice President Leni Robredo when she hits the ground running as the new leader of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
“We have to look on the drug supply because if we will only run after the small-time (traffickers), the drug problem will not end,” Robredo bared this during her Sunday radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni.”
“I want to focus on how would we reduce the (drug) supply,” Robredo, who co-chairs the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), said.
Focusing on supply means decreasing the overall demand for illegal drugs and taking down big-time dealers in the country, the Vice President pointed out.
Robredo noted she would meet with the members of the ICAD’s law enforcement cluster this week to discuss the matter.
“We need deep intelligence on this. I would know during the meeting the available intelligence, what we have accomplished and have not done yet,” the lady official said.
The Vice President accepted her appointment by President Duterte as ICAD co-chair, becoming the country’s new drug czar.
Robredo said she wants to maintain the drug war within the rule of law and bounds of human rights, and without senseless killings.
Robredo set a self-imposed deadline by year-end to lay down her plans and programs that could help improve the anti-narcotics campaign.
She has a scheduled meeting with United Nations and U.S Embassy officials and other resource persons in the coming days apart from the ICAD’s enforcement cluster to consult them on strategies that could be used in the drug war.
ICAD has 21 member-agencies, which are divided in four clusters. The other clusters are Justice, Advocacy, and Rehabilitation and Reintegration, all of which shall “implement and comply with all policies, laws and issuances pertaining to the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign in an integrated and synchronized manner.”
Robredo already met Senator Panfilo Lacson who shared his experience and knowledge about law enforcement in fighting the illegal drug trade last Friday before her first ICAD meeting.
In her radio show, the Vice President emphasized the importance of intelligence gathering in the anti-illegal drugs campaign through the help of international organizations and other countries.
“The drug problem is not only in the Philippines. Many of the illegal drugs come from other countries,” she said.
The Vice President specifically cited the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy (PADS) conforms with the standards of UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
“It is stated in the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy how important is the cooperation with international organizations. They have big resources in the sense of information gathering,” she said. (Raymund F. Antonio)
