PDEA exec: Ops vs high-value targets debunk claims that drug war is anti-poor

SHOOTOUT A gun is recovered at the spot where drug suspect Rolando Bugarin died after a shootout with policemen in Biñan City, Laguna province, in July. —PHOTO COURTESY OF CALABARZON PNP

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the country’s leading anti-drug agency said that recent government operations against high-value targets (HVTs) involved in the illegal drug trade debunk accusations that the administration’s war on drugs is anti-poor.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Spokesperson Director Derrick Carreon on Wednesday said that aside from members of illegal drug syndicates, policemen with links to illegal drugs were also targeted.

“Makikita po natin based on the recent trend of operations, this will debunk any claims na ang nahuhuli po natin ay puro ‘yong mga naka-tsinelas lang, o ‘yong maliliit lamang,” Carreon told reporters during the presentation of the government-based research arm Real Numbers on the drug war.

“Makikita naman po natin ang focus ng ating operations bukod sa mga kabaro po natin, meron din pong mga members ng sindikato,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs has been criticized as anti-poor, after most of the slain drug suspects appeared to come from marginalized backgrounds.

However, law enforcers have insisted that the drug war is not targeting only poor people — it appears such because a lot of them are being used as drug runners.

As proof, Carreon along with Philippine National Police (PNP) Spokesperson Lt. Col. Kimberly Molitas and Assistant Communications Secretary Marie Rafael presented various accomplishments of anti-drug operatives last February.

These include operations where P1.3 billion worth of shabu was seized from three Chinese nationals in Muntinlupa City and the 276 kilograms of shabu recovered in the Manila International Container Port (MICP). /jpv

READ: PDEA agents seize P1.13-B worth of shabu in Muntinlupa / Info from Vietnam leads to P1.8-B ‘shabu’ seizure

Other operations involving HVTs were also mentioned, such as the buy-bust operation in Mandaluyong City on February 28, involving a doctor from the Department of Health, the arrest of two police officers in Ormoc, and the relief of a jail chief inspector who tested positive for drugs. /jpv