PNP wants inventory of drug-free families in PH

MANILA, Philippines — In its bid to bring the crackdown on illegal drugs down to communities, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is seeking to launch a program that would require an inventory of drug-free families in the country.

PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. underscored the role of the family in the war on drugs during the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the Kasimbayanan (Kapulisan, Simbahan at Pamayanan) program between the national police and the Quezon City government at the Quezon City Hall on Monday.

“Actually, nag-sta-start tayo dapat sa pamilya. We are intending nga to launch [an initiative] na magkaroon tayo ng imbentaryo sa bawat pamilya natin [..] Kung kaya natin ideklara na ang ating pamilya ay drug-free, we can find ways [to determine] ilan ba ang drug affectation natin sa bawat pamilya natin,” Azurin said.

(Actually, we should start with our families. We are intending to launch an initiative where we would have an inventory of each of our families […] If we can declare that our families are drug-free, we can find ways [to determine] the drug affectation of each family.)

Aside from pinning down the drug affectation per family, Azurin also pointed to the need to do the same in jail facilities, workspaces and educational institutions “so we would know the correct interventions that we should do.”

This, said the PNP chief, is a manifestation of criminality as a problem that needs to be addressed not just by the police but by multiple sectors in society.

READ: PNP chief recalibrating ‘drug war’ in villages 

According to Azurin, this marks the continuation of the drug war launched during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“There were lots of killings before. Iyong awareness ng bawat Pilipino ay nandoon na–mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ng anumang pamahalaan ang paggamit ng iligal na droga (The awareness of every Filipino is already there–any government will strictly prohibit the use of illegal drugs),” he added.

READ: PNP touts drug war wins, including killings 

Government figures state that more than 6,000 individuals were killed in the bloody drug war of the Duterte administration from July 2016 to May 2022, but human rights groups believe that this number could be at least three times more.

The killings in Duterte’s war on drugs is currently the subject of a full-blown investigation being sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

READ: ICC resumes full-blown probe of Duterte drug war 

The Philippine government has since asserted that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the country since it already withdrew from the Rome Statute–the founding treaty of the ICC–in 2019.

Following the ICC announcement of a preliminary investigation on the situation of the Philippines in 2018, then chief executive Duterte announced that the country would be revoking its membership from the international tribunal.

In view of this move, the Supreme Court has since ruled that the Philippines cannot invoke its withdrawal from the Rome Statute to evade the ICC investigation on the alleged crimes against humanity committed by Duterte and his subordinates in the brutal war on drugs.

READ: Duterte can’t evade ICC, end treaty on his own – Supreme Court 

JPV