Solon wants to reallocate PNP’s P900-M ‘Double Barrel’ budget to PDEA

In a statement issued Thursday, House Committee on Dangerous Drugs chairman Robert Ace Barbers said he had requested the House Committee on Appropriations to transfer the PHP900 million to PDEA as operating funds, during the bicameral conference of the 2018 national budget. (Photo: Ace Barbers/Facebook)

MANILA — A leader of the House of Representatives is pushing for the reallocation of the PHP900-million budget of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Oplan Double Barrel for 2018, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent directive designating the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as lead agency in the ongoing war on drugs.

In a statement issued Thursday, House Committee on Dangerous Drugs chairman Robert Ace Barbers said he had requested the House Committee on Appropriations to transfer the PHP900 million to PDEA as operating funds, during the bicameral conference of the 2018 national budget.

Barbers made the request in a letter dated last Oct. 23, addressed to Appropriations Committee chairman and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles.

Barbers stressed the need for additional funding for PDEA with its new role in the nationwide anti-drug campaign, noting that the agency’s proposed budget for next year at PHP1.44 billion is a “dismal” .01 percent of the total national budget.

“As the sole agency of the administration’s top priority, PDEA must have the necessary equipment, training and logistics to combat illegal drugs,” he said.

“By providing them (PDEA) with ample budget, I am positive that this war on drugs will soon be sustained,” he added.

Barbers recalled the agency’s budget hearing last September wherein PDEA chief Aaron Aquino sought additional funding of PHP934 million to beef up their efforts in the anti-drug campaign.

Aquino said the budget increase should fund the hiring and training of 1,605 more operatives. At present, PDEA has only 1,041 operatives nationwide.