MANILA, Philippines Detained Sen. Leila De Lima criticized the governments decision to restart its renewed war on drugs, saying the problems that led to its suspension have not been addressed. <\/p>\n
De Lima described as the height of arrogance the governments plan to lift the suspension of police operations against drug peddlers and traffickers without addressing the defects in in its anti-narcotics campaign. <\/p>\n
The senator, detained at the custodial center in Camp Crameon drug charges, said that the government should heed the advice of local and global experts against problems in its war on drugs program such as police corruption and lack of an accountability system meant to check police abuses. <\/p>\n
Itd be the height of arrogance if our government would resume its most murderous war on drugs without correcting its defects, without getting rid of corrupt policemen, and without making them accountable for their crimes, De Lima said. <\/p>\n
Like many of you know, the illegal drug abuse and trafficking present a persistent problem not only for the Philippines but also for other countries. We are against drug trade, but we should not allow innocent people summarily killed, she added. <\/p>\n
President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Tuesday that he was tapping the police again in his drug war because of lack of manpower. <\/p>\n
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The president bared that he had ordered PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa to recruit young men imbued with the fervor of patriotism to be members of police groups that would run after drug syndicates. <\/p>\n
Every station should have one (task force) pero piling pili, yung walang kaso at walang history ng corruption (they will be selected thoroughly, they should have no cases and no history of corruption), he said. <\/p>\n
I have to do it because kulang ako ng tao (I lack manpower), the chief executive admitted. <\/p>\n
This rebooted war on drugs by the government however will be different from its previous version because of the involvement of another element: the military. <\/p>\n
The Armed Forces of the Philippinessigned a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency making it the campaigns force provider. <\/p>\n
The military will aid PDEA in going after high-value targets and help the agency in activities such as counterintelligence, investigation and neutralization of persons involved in the drugs trade. <\/p>\n
This move from the AFP came despite warnings from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the United States would be forced to suspend its military aid should the military become part of the drug campaign. <\/p>\n
De Lima said that allowing the PNP to resume its anti-drugs operations would be a reckless move on the part of authorities. <\/p>\n
It is reckless, to say the least, to allow the resumption of the anti-drug operations of the Philippine National Police which is more interested in the incentives given them than in investigating and preventing death-squad- style killings, De Lima said. <\/p>\n
She said that the government should discard its Double Barrel Project and come up with a better program that respects and protects human rights of individuals, including suspected drug offenders. <\/p>\n
The present war on drugs is a dismal failure because there were innocent individuals who were summarily killed, those who were apprehended were not accorded due process of the law, and only the poor were targeted, she said. <\/p>\n
De Lima also called on the government to have a look at the Alternate Report the Ateneo Human Rights Center submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council. <\/p>\n
According to De Lima, the report underscored the defects in the governments anti-drugs program which claimed thousands of lives including those of innocent individuals and children who are treated as mere collateral damage in its campaign. <\/p>\n
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De Lima: Putting police back in war on drugs reckless, arrogant - Philippine Star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MANILA, Philippines Detained Sen. Leila De Lima criticized the governments decision to restart its renewed war on drugs, saying the problems that led to its suspension have not been addressed. Continue reading