Poe to fight drugs, prioritize FOI bill if elected president in 2016

Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe (Photo from Poe’s official Facebook page)

MANILA – Should Senator Grace Poe be elected president in May 2016, she vowed to fight drug syndicates in the Philippines as drug smuggling activities in the country reportedly increased.

“The prevalence of drugs in the country is very disturbing, and I am surprised that it is not getting the attention and action it deserves,” Poe said in a statement, asserting that a ‘stronger government hand’ was needed to combat drug trafficking.

“If we treat this as a national security threat, then it would no longer just be the problem of the Philippine National Police (PNP) but also of the military and other branches of government,” she added.

Poe then called on airports and seaports to strengthen their security measures to prevent illegal drugs from slipping in and out of the country.

“I cannot fathom how our airport security personnel can spot a single bullet in passengers’ luggage but could not detect something as huge and suspicious-looking as bags of cocaine,” she said.

Priority bills

Aside from fighting drug syndicates, Poe would also prioritize the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, the modernization of the Customs and Tariff Act and the Build-Operate-Transfer Law should she become President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s successor.

“Ang mga priority bills natin: number 1, Freedom of Information, para mabantayan ang gobyerno; pangalawa, modernization ng Customs and Tariff Act; ito, Build, Operate, Transfer, amendement ng anti-red tape; at siyempre ‘yung malapit sa puso ko, libreng pananghalian para sa mga bata, first 100 days para sa mga buntis,” she said in an interview with radio dzMM.

(Our priority bills: number 1, Freedom of Information, to watch over the government; second, modernization of the Customs and Tarriff Act; this, Build, Operate, Transfer; amendment of the anti-red tape; and of course those close to my heart, free lunch to children, first 100 days for the pregnant women.)

‘Tanim-bala,’ balikbayan boxes issues

With the ‘tanim-bala’ (bullet-planting) extortion scheme and the balikbayan boxes issues, Poe believed that these could have been prevented or easily solved if there were reliable closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras properly positioned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and at the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

“‘Yung pag-iimbestiga, kung mayroon lang mga tamang CCTV camera na nakaposisyon, hindi tayo magdidiskusyon ngayon (The investigation, if there were properly-positioned CCTV cameras, we will no longer be discussing here),” she said.