Activists protesting the drug war bloodshed are reflected on a pool of water in downtown Colon Street in Cebu City. —JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILYNEWS
BAGUIO CITY — Instead of scrapping the P900-million budget for the antidrug “Oplan Double Barrel,” the Senate should realign it to train and arm policemen for counterterrorism operations amid evidence that foreign terrorists were behind the attempt to turn Marawi City into an Islamic State (IS) province, according to Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito.
Ejercito said the minority bloc in the Senate wanted the police antidrug fund scrapped after President Rodrigo Duterte gave the lead role in the war on drugs to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
But after the military confirmed that foreigners were among those killed or arrested when it retook Marawi from the IS follower Maute group, Ejercito said he was convinced that the conflict there was an “international terror activity so we have to be prepared.”
“Worldwide, counterterrorism is a police operation,” Ejercito said.
He said funds were needed by police because “we need to invest and send people to the United States or Israel” for training on counterterror tactics.
Funds were also needed, he said, to buy “sophisticated weapons and high-tech surveillance equipment.”
He said part of the investment should be on helicopters that would fly special reaction teams to areas targeted by terrorists.
“I don’t think we are capable [of such quick response operations] now,” he added.
According to Ejercito, terrorists have started looking for other places in Asia where they could rebuild IS. “What happened in Marawi is proof they are looking for other places,” he said.
Ejercito also said government efforts to rebuild Marawi had been boosted by a pledge made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to release P500 billion.
He described the Japanese “as our closest ally at present,” given that Abe also pledged to finance the Manila subway project and help restore a north-to-south railway project.
“I trust the Japanese more than the Chinese. The Japanese just help, the Chinese they help but they take away some of our territory,” he said. —Vincent Cabreza