De Lima slams PDEA over social media reporting of illegal drug activities
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila De Lima on Saturday took a jab at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s (PDEA) for creating a Facebook page where people can report illegal drug activities in the country, saying it is a “license to destroy one’s reputation and personal security.”
De Lima said PDEA’s page “Isumbong Mo Kay Wilkins” is only an “obvious bid to recycle the failed Masa Masid program” of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The “Masa Masid” program of the DILG is a community-based initiative to engage volunteers to fight criminality, corruption, and drugs.
“On its face, PDEA’s initiative is even more dangerous than its predecessor precisely because the main mechanism for reporting has been moved online,” De Lima said in a statement.
“In the wake of a massive surge of fake accounts on Facebook coupled with the lack of regulations on account creation and verification, we can imagine a corresponding spike in the surreptitious and malicious tagging of just any person as a drug personality, whether real or fake and for whatever reason,” she added.
De Lima added that ruining one’s reputation is easier with the online platform since informants “are afforded with a veil of protection.”
“Simply put, it’s a license to destroy one’s reputation and personal security, and it makes the task much easier now because the informants are afforded with a veil of protection—sponsored by the government no less,” De Lima said.
“Cases such as mine—completely fabricated and bogus—are sure to multiply with such an ill-conceived program,” the senator added.
De Lima noted that President Rodrigo Duterte was granted ₱4.5 Billion in confidential and intelligence funds for 2020. PDEA meanwhile was given P500 million in confidential funds and billions of budget were provided to the DILG and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“Why then should the government resort once again to this sort of inanity and tomfoolery that can most definitely endanger thousands of Filipinos. Is this the extent of the PDEA’s imagination?” De Lima said.
“Gasgas na ‘yan! Wala na ba kayong maisip na ibang paraan? Bilyong-bilyong pera ng bayan ang iginugugol para matugunan ang problema ng droga pero ganito kababaw ang inyong programa? Pakiayos naman. Kaawa-awa na ang taumbayan,” the senator added.
PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva earlier said that “Isumbong mo kay Wilkins” was created to allow a more accessible venue for informants and concerned citizens to report illegal drug activities.
Villanueva said that the agency will treat every information with confidentiality.
“Rest assured that all received information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Send reliable information and help us end the drug menace,” he said.
/MUF
