Without gov’t aid, drug pushers back in Quezon

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Saying they have not received any assistance from the government, some confessed drug pushers who had surrendered to authorities recently have returned to their illegal activities, sources said.

“I know of at least two associates who have returned to selling drugs. I can’t blame them. After we surrendered, we were just left on our own,” said a pusher who used to operate in a middle-class neighborhood on the city’s outskirts.

When asked about the sources of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) being sold again in the streets, another source said: “There’s no fresh supply. The stuff was part of [our] leftover stock.”

“Most drug pushers were jobless. They have to feed their families and drug pushing is the only means available for them,” the source said.

A “hit,” or a granule of shabu enough for one user, is now sold for P300 to P500 due to the scarce supply following the intensified government campaign against the illegal drug trade, the sources said. It used to cost only P100, they added.

The crackdown on illegal drugs started even before President Duterte was sworn into office on June 30, with thousands of drug users and pushers around the country, most of them poor and small-time dealers, surrendering to the police.

Mr. Duterte, during the election campaign, had promised to rid the country of illegal drugs, warning traffickers to stop or risk being killed.

The Inquirer sources, however, said they had no plans of returning to the drug trade.

“My father already forgave me. We’re now under his temporary care. He will help me get back to my former job to support my family,” one of them said.

They called on the government to help pushers and users who have chosen to surface.

“If no help would come their way, the antidrug war of President Duterte would just all go to waste. Once the campaign dies down and a fresh supply of shabu comes in, most pushers would be back in business if there’s no other alternative [livelihood] for them,” one of them said.

Supt. Dennis de Leon, Lucena police chief, confirmed the report that some pushers who surrendered to the police recently had gone back to selling shabu. “But they were only a few. We will [seek them out],” De Leon said.

Mayor Roderick Alcala appealed to the private sector to support the city government’s rehabilitation program by also providing jobs to former drug pushers.

“The city government can only do so much. They need jobs to feed their families. Let us all help our townmates who want to reform,” Alcala said.

From July 1 to 17, at least 443 drug pushers and 4,470 users from different towns and cities in Quezon surrendered to the police, records of the provincial police showed.

Supt. Giovannie Caliao, head of Quezon police’s anti-illegal drugs special operations group, said 86 suspected traffickers had been arrested during the same period and 109 grams of shabu had been seized.