PDEA, PNP to probe drug link allegation vs rights groups

Real Numbers Press Briefing with Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Atty. Ana Maria Banaag, PNP Spokesperson Police Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, PDEA Spokesperson Director Derrick Arnold Carreon and NCRPO Spokesperson Police Supt. Kimberly Molitas (Photo screenshot by Real Numbers PH Press Briefing video)

Leading agencies on the administration’s war on illegal drugs said that they will have to investigate further on the allegation linking drug lords to human rights groups.

In the #RealNumbersPH press briefing on Tuesday, March 27, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) spokesperson Derrick Carreon and Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao both agreed to verify the allegations.

Carreon said that they are still “digging further” and added, “But seeing the trend of how they attack the anti-drug campaign, we can only surmise it might be unwitting to the human rights groups that they are being capitalized or made as leverage by drug groups.”

He further said that PDEA is cooperating with other law enforcement agencies with regards to the issue.

While admitting that they still have no evidence as of now, Bulalacao, on the other hand, agreed saying, “But as what has been mentioned by [PDEA], we would continue to validate these reports that drug syndicates may be using human rights groups to discredit the efforts of the government.”

The linking of drug lords to human rights groups started with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano’s statement about non-government organizations (NGOs) in a news conference last week.

“Unwittingly some of the NGOs are being used by drug lords. That’s the reality,” Cayetano said.

This was echoed by the Palace, through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr., who said that the attacks on President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s campaign to eradicate illegal drugs have been “vicious and non-stop.”

“We, therefore, do not discount the possibility that some human rights groups have become unwitting tools of drug lords to hinder the strides made by the administration,” Roque, who is also the Presidential adviser on human rights and a human rights advocate said.

The statements of the two government officials drew flak from human rights groups and a lawmaker.

(Read: Solon, rights groups hit Malacañang for calling latter ‘unwitting tools of drug lords’)