FINDING ANSWERS
Former Senator
Atty. Joey Lina
The new Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan (BIDA) anti-illegal drugs campaign launched nationwide last Saturday will have to get the support of the entire nation if significant success is to be attained. And having the right strategies that make use of lessons learned from past mistakes would be of great help.
The fight against illegal drugs certainly needs the right strategies pursued relentlessly towards reducing both supply and demand.
When I was Interior Secretary and concurrent chairman of National Peace and Order Council and Dangerous Drugs Board, I knew that among the first steps needed to reduce supply, for instance, was to put in place a system for identification of suspected drug dealers, bigtime or smalltime, from provincial/city/municipal levels down to the barangay level.
Anti-Drug Abuse Councils were activated at the barangay, municipal, city and provincial levels, generating grassroots intelligence leading to the highest number of arrests and cases filed against drug pushers, distributors and manufacturers, and most number of shabu labs raided and dismantled during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
I also made sure that policemen attended hearings of drug-related cases lest they face administrative charges. Big cases were monitored together with the Justice Department to ensure success in prosecution because we knew that if the legal process becomes flawed, when cases are “fixed” along the way, and authorities fail in their job, the drug lords and pushers would never be deterred.
But I’m sure Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos, Jr. knows all these, too. And he’s right to realize that the anti-drug campaign needs the help of all sectors, the entire nation indeed.
“Lahat tayo ay dapat kumilos na at maging bida laban sa iligal na droga (All of us needs to act and be heroes against illegal drugs), Abalos said. "Ang problema ng droga ay problema ng buong mundo... Mahirap ito sugpuin pero walang imposible kung sama-sama tayo (The problem of drugs is a worldwide problem… It’s difficult to solve but nothing is impossible if we unite efforts).”
Indeed, all sectors of society fully supporting BIDA is a must. And among the crucial sectors that can give critical support is the Church.
While my being a former human rights lawyer compelled me to support the Church when it denounced the senseless killings and violence that characterized the drug war of the previous administration, I could understand why former President Duterte kept on cursing and ridiculing local priests and bishops.
In venting his ire on Church leaders, Mr. Duterte lamented the seeming lack of concrete support from them as he once blurted: “Kayong mga pari, mga obispo, ang gaganda ng suot ninyo, mga kotse. Meron ba kayong isang bahay lang maski limang kwarto para rehab? (You priests, bishops, you have nice clothes, cars. Do have a house even with only five rooms for rehab?)
And his fury also focused not only on inaction but on seemingly uninspired sermons and ineffective preaching.
Thus, the Church needs to do more with drug prevention programs that must be massive, community-based, sustainable, and properly communicated if these are to be effective with the millions of Filipinos hooked on drugs.
On rehabilitation of drug dependents, the situation is this: Data from the Dangerous Drugs Board showed that out of the 1.8 million drug users in 2016, at least one percent — or 18,000 — were categorized as drug abusers/dependents who really need to be confined in drug treatment and rehab centers.
These 18,000 were the most dangerous of drug addicts, the ones believed to be capable of heinous crimes. The population is at great risk unless these persons are confined and treated as in-patients in rehab centers or — for the hopelessly insane and described by then President Duterte as afflicted with brain shrinkage — placed in mental institutions.
But besides the one percent of 1.8 million drug dependents, more were added to those needing confinement in rehab centers. In a Senate hearing, DOH officials said that of the total of 600,000 drug users who had then surrendered to authorities, about nine percent — or 54,000 — were found to be needing confinement. Amid the huge and still rising numbers, there are only around 44 drug rehab centers across the country, just 15 of these are government-owned, and all of these can accommodate only around 5,000 drug patients.
The numbers are overwhelming if viewed from a national perspective, but immediate solutions may emerge by “localizing” the problem and subjecting it to sharper focus. Thus, the help of local government units and the private sector supporting BIDA would be sorely needed. Indeed, all-out efforts from all sectors are needed on this newly-launched anti-drugs campaign of the Marcos Jr. administration.
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