Robredo on anti-drug campaign: Surrendering is just step one

What happens after almost 700,000—and counting—drug personalities all over the country turn themselves in to the authorities?

That was the question Vice President Leni Robredo wants the government to have a clear answer to as more and more drug users and pushers who want to mend their ways surrender to local executives and police every day.

Upon the request of Robredo, Interior Secretary Mike Sueno on Tuesday called for a meeting at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) central office to discuss the current status of the efforts of different government agencies to rehabilitate drug “surrenderees.”

READ: Robredo meets with DILG, PNP, PDEA to discuss drug war

Latest data from the PNP showed that a total of 687,953 drug personalities, 687,953 users and 48,563 pushers, have surrendered from July 1 to September 6.

Robredo earlier suggested that the rehabilitation element of President Duterte’s campaign against drugs needs to be improved.

“My first question, where are those 700,000 (surrenderees) now? The plans are there but we do admit that it will take a while for us to operationalize those plans,” Robredo said during the briefing.

She said the government should not look at the rising number of surrenderees as an accomplishment “because it is just a means to reach a target.”

“Our target is to get them out of the drug addiction and we all know that surrendering will not solve it. Surrender is just step one,” she said.

The vice president cited the August 20 killing of a St. Luke’s Hospital Quezon City nurse perpetrated by a drug suspect who had just surrendered to the police.

“After ng surrender, may kaunting salita tapos maghihiwalay din. Two weeks ago may pinatay na nurse sa St. Luke’s. Iyong salarin kaka-surrender lang. So after noong surrender walang programa kaya kailangan talaga nating maghabol,” she explained.

(After the surrender, there’s little talk then they’ll separate. Two weeks ago, there was nurse killed in St. Luke’s. The suspect was a recent surrenderee. So after the surrender, there was no program; that’s why we need to hurry.)

Robredo then offered the resources of the Office of the Vice President the government can use to start operationalizing rehabilitation programs for the surrenderees.

“Halimbawa iyong San Miguel (Corporation), si Andrew Tan nag-offer. Kung may mga offer na ganito, bakit hindi na tayo mag-pool ng resources para masimulan na agad. Ang worry ko baka magningas-cogon.

(For example, San Miguel’s Andrew Tan offered. If there are offers like this, can’t we pool our resources so we can start immediately? My worry is that the efforts might die down later on.)

“Baka puwede nating pagtulung-tulungan iyong mga puwede nang simulan. What am I just saying is the program is very good, pero baka puwedeng at this point may umpisahan na tayo,” she added.

(We could help those who can already be started upon. What am I just saying is the program is very good, but maybe at this point we can already start something.)

Robredo also noted the importance of the Catholic Church’s role in the anti-drug campaign, adding that the DILG’s church-government partnership program called “Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan” became instrumental in the rehabilitation and treatment of drug dependents in different cities and provinces.

Robredo said faith-based rehabilitation programs are very effective, citing the drug abuse programs of Catanduanes province and Naga City, where her husband former Interior Secretary Jesse once governed, which were done in cooperation with the Church. JE/rga