Decriminalizing drug use will ‘multiply’ problem

“Decriminalizing the use of drugs in the Philippines will not only aggravate but multiply the problem,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday rejected the suggestion of former New Zealand Minister Helen Clark to decriminalize the use of illegal drugs, saying it will worsen the Philippines’ narcotics problems.

“Decriminalizing the use of drugs in the Philippines will not only aggravate but multiply the problem,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“Take out the criminal liability of those involved and you induce and encourage others to be a part of the dreaded evil,” he added.

Clark, one of the prominent members of the NZ Drug foundation, has repeatedly pushed for the decriminalization of drugs, nothing that addiction should be treated as a public health issue.

Panelo thumbed down Clark’s suggestion, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte had already rejected a similar proposal made by the European Union (EU) two years ago.

He emphasized that unlike in other countries’, the Philippines’ illegal drugs remain a billion-peso industry, where 97 percent of barangays (villages) have or had already been infiltrated.

The Presidential Spokesperson asked foreign observers to “understand fully” the Duterte administration’s crackdown on illegal drugs before making remarks against it.

“We suggest observers, especially those in foreign countries, to understand fully the Philippine government’s strategy in dealing with illegal drugs before being persuaded by one-sided information and crafting unwise if not cerebrally challenged commentaries based thereon,” Panelo said.

Panelo also defended the Duterte administration’s drug war anew, noting that it was a campaign “anchored on national security and on public health”.

“Drug treatment and rehabilitation form part of the second phase of our campaign,” Panelo said.

He said it is during the Duterte administration that a 10,000-bed drug rehabilitation center, the country’s biggest, opened in Nueva Ecija.

As of February 2017, Panelo said 27 reformation centers have likewise been established.

Panelo, meanwhile, cited the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that more than seven out of 10 Filipinos are “satisfied” with the way the government handles the campaign.

Earlier, Panelo said 164,265 drug personalities have been arrested, 9,503 barangays cleared from drugs, and PHP25.19 billion worth of drugs and equipment have been seized since the start of Duterte’s term in 2016 until November last year.