Anti-drug agencies urged to intensify campaign during poll period

MANILA – The chairman of the House Dangerous Drugs Committee on Wednesday urged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) not to let their guards down in their anti-drug campaign during the election period.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers made the call following reports that drug lords, “narco-politicians”, and their henchmen are expected to intensify their operations to beef up their campaign funds for the May 2022 elections.

Barbers said he has received some information that some drug lords, who are trying to "buy" influence from bets in the forthcoming polls, are actively pushing their merchandise in the drug market to provide funds for their patrons.

“It is a fact that drug lords befriend and buy influence from some politicians and other government officials - from the national to the local level – who they expect in return to coddle and protect them in the future in exchange for drug money in their campaign kitties,” he said.

He argued that drug lords "always take advantage" of election campaign periods considering that law enforcement agencies, including the military, are busy and focused on peace and order campaigns in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

“Hindi dapat mag-relax ang mga opisyal ng ating mga anti-drug agencies sa kanilang kampanya laban sa illegal na droga habang panahon ng kampanya sa eleksyon dahil busy din ang mga sindikato ng droga na mag-tulak para mai-finance nila ang kanilang mga kandidato para sa darating na halalan sa Mayo (This is not the time to relax for our officials in their fight against illegal drugs especially during the election campaign period because drug syndicates would be busy pushing their merchandise to finance their candidates in the upcoming May polls),” Barbers said.

Meanwhile, the PNP has launched the Anti-Illegal Drugs Operations through Reinforcement and Education (ADORE), which is the final phase of the Oplan Double Barrel anti-drug strategy.

ADORE is anchored on a holistic approach highlighted by reinforcement and education-based strategy and in close coordination with other law enforcement agencies, national government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders.

It uses the '8Es' which stands for engineering the structure, education, extraction of information, enforcement, enactment of laws, environment, economics, and evaluation.

PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said this is the end game strategy for the Duterte administration's anti-drug campaign "through the rehabilitation, recovery and wellness and reintegration of the more than 1.2 million that surrendered".

“As I promised, the PNP is committed to going back to the street now that the environment will allow us to go back to bring the help of the government in this campaign against illegal drugs, ganun po ang aming (that’s our) role. We are doing our best to be able to deliver the best result of the campaign but again clearly the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy (PADS) and its predecessor, the national action plan for anti-drug action plan is a continuing program,” he said. (PNA)