PDEA on Int’l Day of Happiness: Illegal drugs do not bring happiness

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) urged the public to shun illegal drugs, criminality and corruption in order to achieve true happiness. (Photo: Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency – PDEA/Facebook)

MANILA—The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) urged the public to shun illegal drugs, criminality and corruption in order to achieve true happiness.

“Illegal drugs, criminality and corruption do not bring happiness,” PDEA and The Way to Happiness (TWTH) Philippines Foundation Inc. said in celebration of the United Nations International Day of Happiness on Monday in the country.

“Filipinos richly deserve a good, fulfilling and worthwhile life without illegal drugs, criminality and corruption – the three societal menaces the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte have vowed to get rid of,” said PDEA Director General Isidro S. Lapeña.

“Winning the war against illegal drugs achieves a bigger goal of improving the well-being and happiness of our citizenry. This for me is a true measure of our progress as a nation. However, the absence of ethics is the scourge that pulls Filipinos deeper in misery and poverty,” Lapeña added.

The TWTH Foundation, in partnership with the Drug-Free World and the Rotary Club of Malate Prime-District 381, has been training policemen and civilians nationwide to a life of bliss through the booklet “The Way To Happiness”.

The booklet is a global best practice that presents a non-political and non-religious common sense guide to better living. It has 21 precepts that create the foundations of personal and community happiness. Among the precepts are Be Temperate (Do Not Take Harmful Drugs), Do Not Murder, Don’t Do Anything Illegal, Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others, and Flourish and Prosper.

The book says, “The test of a society is whether or not you, your family and friends can live in it safely,” moving away from a superficial view of happiness, where true happiness can only be anchored and sustained with personal ethics and social values.

“Winning the war against drugs can be ensured only through a two fisted approach – an iron fist of enforcement of the law to cut the supply and ethics education to cut the demand,” said TWTH Philippines Chairman Jerry Perez de Tagle.

According to The World Happiness Report, measurements of well-being can be used to effectively assess the progress of nations. In the 2016 report, the Philippines ranked 82nd, Japan at 53rd, Indonesia at 79th and China at 83rd, among the Asian countries.

“With the creation of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs (ICAD) and the renewed support from private organizations and civil society, the UN International Day of Happiness is a timely reminder that with comprehensive enforcement and ethics, we can generate peace and prosperity that is anchored on ethical principles,” the PDEA chief said, adding that looking at life from the vantage point of having a positive well-being is the key to a happier life.