Duterte’s drug users data stumps NBI, PNP, PDEA

Officials of the country’s top law enforcement agencies on Thursday struggled to defend President Duterte’s new estimate that there were 7 or 8 million “shabu” (crystal meth) users in the country, saying that he might have upped the number to “challenge” them to intensify the war on drugs.

Saying that Duterte had “unlimited sources,” the spokespersons of  the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) all denied providing the figure, making it unclear where the President had gotten it from.

During a campaign rally in Biñan, Laguna province on Saturday, the President said that shabu had “reduced to slaves” up to 8 million Filipinos—double his estimate of between 3 and 4 million shabu users in 2016.

He also cited the bigger figure a week after his spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, told critics to “stop playing blind and dumb and instead listen to the people.” This was after the majority of respondents in a Social Weather Stations survey said there were fewer drug addicts in their areas.

In a briefing at Camp Crame on Thursday, officials of the PNP, NBI and PDEA, along with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), parried questions about the staggering figure, which, if true, would mean they had severely miscalculated the magnitude of illegal drugs in the country.

Lawyer Ferdinand Lavin, NBI spokesperson, appeared to suggest that Mr. Dutere’s remark could be part of a larger strategy to motivate them to improve their performance.

Good tactician

“The President is a very good tactician,” Lavin said. “He may have given a large estimate because he wants law enforcement to do more.”

Asked why Duterte would publicize the figure without first consulting the top antidrug agencies, PNP spokesperson, Senior Supt. Bernard Banac, also said that this was a strategic move.

“He is trying to challenge us. He just wants to go one step ahead of us,” Banac told reporters. “We are trying our best also to get our acts together and be able to keep in step with the President.”

While they did not refute the figure, Banac said that as an estimate, it “remained to be verified.” Lavin also pointed out the fluidity of estimates, saying it would “continue to change so long as we continue to improve on our drug operations.”

In spite of this, the officials said they were ready to use the figure as a basis to “reassess and recalibrate” their approach to the drug war.

“We will move forward with this [information], and make sure that we rise up in order to meet the challenge,” said PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon. Banac, on the other hand, called the figure a “decision-making tool” the PNP would use to enact a more effective antidrug campaign.

“The fact that this was stated by the President, it means that he has a basis,” he said.

All of them, however, appeared to be in the dark about what that basis might be. When pressed, both the PNP and NBI spokespersons said that over the last three years, the arrest of more drug users had provided intelligence that could have increased the initial estimate.

“If before, the basis for the estimate was information from the PNP, PDEA and NBI, now it includes arrested addicts that provide information,” Lavin said.