Pacquiao to set up reward system, address poverty in own ‘drug war’

FILE PHOTO: World boxing champ-turned-politician Senator Manny Pacquiao at the Senate floor on March 23, 2020. (Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB Files)

MANILA, Philippines — A reward system for law enforcers and informants who will help catch big-time narcotics syndicates.

This is how Senator Manny Pacquiao intends to address the country’s problem on illegal drugs if he wins the presidency in the May 9 polls.

Pacquiao said this system would give attractive incentives for successful anti-drug operations involving big-time drug syndicates.

“Kapag may accomplishment, ipakulong natin iyong mga mahuhuli, hindi iyong papatayin.  Marami na akong napakulong kaya puwede naman nating ituloy ang war on drugs dahil ayaw natin ang droga,”  Pacquiao said in a press briefing in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, on Tuesday.

He said that in Sarangani province, he would usually give rewards to law enforcement units who are involved in successful drug busts.

When he was a congressman, Pacquiao said he also helped law enforcement units in facilitating the filing of drug cases against suspected pushers.

“Huwag natin silang [arrested suspects] patayin dahil kawawa naman ang pamilya nilang maiiwan. Naghihirap pa ang mga tao, sayang naman ang buhay nila. Bigyan natin sila ng chance para makapagsimula at makapagbagong buhay,” he said.

(Let’s not kill them because the families they would leave will suffer. Many people are suffering and lives should not be wasted. Let’s give them a chance to start their lives again.)

“Hindi ako gumagawa ng salita lang. May mga naka-file sa akin between 2011 to 2012, when I was a congressman, marami akong filing at binibigyan ko ng premyo iyong mga may accomplishment na nakakahuli ng drug pusher, mga adik na gumaggamit ng droga. Iyan ay hanggang sa kasalukuyan,” he said.

(I am not just saying this. When I was a congressman, I give rewards to those who netted drug pushers and drug users.)

He said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “tokhang” method was not enough to curtail the supply of illegal drugs in the country since the focus was on street-level distributors and not on actual sources of illegal drugs.

READ: Drug war death toll reaches 6,221 as of Nov 30; over 319,000 nabbed — PDEA
READ: Int’l rights group urges ICC to resume probe on Duterte’s drug war

Pacquiao said winning the war against illegal drugs requires more than just sowing fear to drug pushers but a combination of policy actions in law enforcement and in poverty alleviation.

He proposed that the government should reduce the number of street-level distributors by providing adequate employment because many Filipinos are forced into the life of crime due to extreme poverty.

Pacquiao earlier said he would continue the campaign against illegal drugs started under the Duterte administration, but he would do it the “right way.”

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