Sen. Vicente Sotto III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III wants former senator and now rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson to head the fight against illegal drugs in the country.
“In my personal opinion, many may not like this but in my personal opinion, if you want to put an anti-drug czar now, I will put Ping Lacson,” Sotto said in Filipino when interviewed over Radio Inquirer 990AM on Friday.
Sotto, former head of the Dangerous Drug Board (DDB), said Lacson could head the board while Bobby Ortega, former police chief in Baguio, could also lead the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
“The drug traffickers, fortunately for them, I don’t have a say who should be head. If I have the say, I’ll put Ping Lacson and Ortega as heads of both agencies,” he said.
The senator admitted that he was not satisfied with the performance of PDEA although he acknowledged that the agency does not have enough resources to combat the worsening problem on illegal drugs.
“Not exactly, I’m not satisfied,” Sotto when asked if he was happy with the performance of PDEA.
“I’m not saying they are not doing their job, they are ok but they have difficulty doing the job. They are outgunned, outmanned and out financed,” he said.
“So what ‘m saying? I’m saying that the executive level should do more about this,” said the senator.
Alarmed by the reported entry of a Mexican drug cartel in the country, Sotto proposed a holistic approach to the illegal drug problem by involving not only the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) but other law enforcement agencies including the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or Isafp.
“The NBI has too much on their hands but they are working, doing their job but they need help so why not involve the Isafp?” he said.
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