FINDING ANSWERS
The commemoration of Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week every third week of November is supposedly of utmost importance as an intensive community information drive greatly helps in prevention and control of drug dependence.
So extremely important indeed that two presidential proclamations—Proclamation No. 1192 issued on October 1973 and Proclamation No. 124 issued on November 2001—were deemed necessary to emphasize how vital is the need to increase the understanding of Filipinos on the evils of drug abuse.
But last week’s commemoration with the theme “Prioritizing Health-Based Approach in Drug Abuse Prevention and Control” was, sad to say, hardly felt across the country right from day one. Thus, the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Wednesday focused on the drug menace, with the Dangerous Drugs Board executive director, Undersecretary Earl Saavedra, as guest, along with Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority spokesperson Lawin Gabales.
Usec. Saavedra said the anti-drug campaign of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has taken a new face. It has added a new pillar—health, social and developmental services—to the usual demand and supply reduction efforts in fighting the drug problem.
“We consider drug addiction as a chronic relapsing mental health condition. So sakit po ang (it’s a sickness) drug addiction… and relapse is really part of the treatment process, that’s why we have to strengthen interventions,” he explained.
Aside from in-patient treatment and rehab intervention lasting six to nine months for severe drug users, he said the Marcos administration has also launched community-based rehab programs to cater to mild and moderate users.
Usec. Saavedra also cited a program of alternative development for drug pushers that focuses on “behavioral change to reformatory approach” which provides opportunities for alternative livelihood, instead of drug pushing, during reintegration process.
“Pag user i-rehab, pag pusher i-reform (rehabilitate the user, reform the pusher),” he said as he explained the current administration’s anti-drugs campaign which he describes as a “balanced, holistic, and human rights-based approach.”
While sustaining the usual law enforcement efforts, the current campaign is obviously less bloody than that of the previous administration.
The Marcos administration’s thrust to treat the drug menace as a health problem is certainly a great step in the right direction. As I’ve always believed, the prevalence of drug addiction should be seen also as a health issue, instead of merely a law enforcement matter to tackle demand and supply sides.
Unless the health issue is resolved, drug addiction will continue and even worsen. Enterprising individuals will always take advantage of the situation to address a never-ending demand for illegal drugs. It’s really a big and profitable business for drug personalities unless demand is effectively reduced and sustained.
Thus, the current campaign to prioritize treatment, rehabilitation, community-based reintegration, advocacy and prevention, while sustaining law enforcement operations, is commendable.
Usec. Saavedra said that there are 88 drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation facilities nationwide, 34 of which are government-run and 54 are privately-owned. He said more facilities need to be established, at least one for each province, until the administration steps down in 2028.
He said there are fewer drug users in the country now since the Marcos administration took over. Citing the National Household Survey on the Patterns and Trends of Drug Use in the Philippines, he said the number of users decreased to 1.47 million in 2023, from 1.6 million in 2019.
For his part, Mr. Gabales said ₱49.71 billion worth of drugs were seized from July 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2024, indicating that supply of drugs on the streets have been greatly reduced. He added that 29,211 of the country’s 42,000 barangays have been cleared of illegal drugs, while 6,292 barangays remain drug-affected.
As a former human rights lawyer, I have to say that the current administration is on the right track when it believes that the law enforcement aspect alone will not lick the drug menace. As proven in the past, the thousands of lives lost failed to end the enormous drug problem.
Indeed, the best way to fight the drug menace can be found in the law, RA 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 which created the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The law empowers the DDB to “be the policy-making and strategy-formulating body in the planning and formulation of policies and programs on drug prevention and control.” It is tasked to “formulate, develop and establish a comprehensive, integrated, unified and balanced national drug abuse prevention and control strategy.” The PDEA, on the other hand, is the implementing arm.
As former head of the DDB when I was DILG secretary, I can assure DDB is highly capable, especially because it’s a high-powered organization composed of l7 members, nine of whom belong to the President’s Cabinet – the Secretaries of the Departments of Justice, Health, National Defense, Finance, Labor and Employment, Interior and Local Government, Social Welfare and Development, Foreign Affairs, and Education.
With such brilliant minds in the DDB, inherent flaws and serious mistakes that have plagued the drug war before can be avoided if policies and strategies undergo extensive scrutiny and planning by the DDB. ([email protected])