PDEA chief: Robredo’s drug war assessment based on ‘wild assumption’

MANILA, Philippines — The assessment made by Vice President Leni Robredo that the government’s drug war is a “massive failure” is only based on data estimated on “wild assumption,” Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino said Tuesday.

Citing data from the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), Robredo said in her drug war report on Monday, that the approximate minimum consumption of shabu in the country per week is 3,000 kilograms, or about 156,000 kilograms a year.

However, she noted that the government only managed to seize 1,344.87 kilograms in 2019; 785.31 kilograms in 2018; and 1,053.91 kilograms in 2017. She added that this was a measly 1 percent of the total consumption of shabu in the country.

Robredo came up with her report after her 18-day stint as Aquino’s co-chairperson at the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

But according to Aquino, the figures on the average drug consumption mentioned by the Vice President were only an estimate.

“Sabi ni Col. Caramat sa akin, that is a wild assumption. Hindi official figure ‘yan (Col. Caramat told me that is just a wild assumption. That’s not an official figure),”  he said in an interview with DZMM, referring to Col. Romeo Caramat Jr., acting director of PDEG.

“Hindi tugma na magcocompare ka ng estimate versus factual data. Mali ‘yung comparison ng ating Vice President na ‘yun (It’s not appropriate to compare an estimate versus factual data),” added Aquino, who explained the ICAD holds no official data on the average consumption of prohibited drugs in the country.

He added that the estimate of PDEG was also too high.

Aquino likewise reiterated that the success of the drug war is instead measured by the operational accomplishments, villages cleared of drugs, a lower crime volume, and the satisfaction of Filipinos in the anti-drug campaign.

READ: Robredo’s tirades on drug war ‘mere political attack’ vs Duterte – PDEA boss

Edited by MUF