Año tells Robredo: Gov’t also reducing demand for drugs

MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday told Vice President Leni Robredo that the drug war being waged by the government is not only focused on anti-drug operations but also on reducing the demand for illegal drugs.

Año said this as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Health, and the Dangerous Drugs Board signed a joint memorandum circular for a community-based rehabilitation program during the launch of the anti-illegal drugs information system.

The signing of the memorandum and the launch of the information system were made during a meeting of the advocacy cluster of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) in Quezon City.

“In the light that the Vice President Leni Robredo has accepted the co-chairmanship of ICAD, this is one way of telling her that the war against illegal drugs is not much on the supply reduction but simultaneously with the demand reduction,” he said in a speech read by Ricojudge Janvier Echiverri, Interior Undersecretary for External and Legislative Affairs.

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According to Año, the joint memorandum circular focuses on the roles of national government agencies in community-based rehabilitation “for the program to be as holistic as possible” and to provide the needs of drug dependents.

It also provides guidelines for local government units on reporting about the rehabilitation of drug dependents in their areas.

The anti-illegal drug information system, meanwhile, will generate “accurate statistics” on anti-drug activities of different national agencies, said Año.

He said the DILG is also eyeing the “harmonization of information systems,” which when finalized will be forwarded for the Real Numbers program of the Presidential Communications Operations Office that provides government data on the drug war.

“All the data that will be released will all be coming from one system that I hope in the near future will be available to the public as well in order to avoid misinformation,” said Año.

ICAD has three other clusters aside from the advocacy cluster: the rehabilitation and reintegration, law enforcement, and justice.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino, Robredo’s co-chair in ICAD, said the Vice President may focus on the rehabilitation and reintegration, and in the advocacy clusters of the committee.  /muf

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