Senate realigns funds for anti-drug war to housing for troops, cops

The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The P900 million originally intended for the 2018 budget of Project Double Barrel, the anti-drug campaign of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has been realigned by the Senate for housing of military troops and police officers, Sen. Loren Legarda said on Wednesday.

“Nilagay natin yan sa housing ng ating mga sundalo at mga pulis yang P900 miilion,” she said. “We also gave the police the body cams [they had been asking for].”

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on finance, talked to reporters after the Senate unanimously approved the proposed P3.767 trillion national budget next year.

“Wala na yung masa masid or yung Double Barrel at ito’y nilagay natin sa sundalo pa rin at sa mga pulis para sa kanilang housing,” she said.

Legarda assured the PNP would still have enough funds to combat illegal drugs should Presidet Rodrigo Duterte decide to return to it the leadership of the anti-drug war.

“Suportado pa rin natin ang PNP,” she said. “Sapat ang kanilang operational requirements in case ibalik sa kanila or magtulungan sa PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency [PDEA] sa war on drugs.”

Duterte decided to transfer the anti-drug war operations to the PDEA follwoing strong criticisms against the police over drug-related killings, particularly in several cases involving teenagers.

READ: Duterte says he will return leadership of drug war to PNP

But in a separate interview, Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III said they would still return the P900-million Double Barrel budget to the PNP.

“Na-realigned, pero ibabalik din kasi conscious kami sa sinasabi ng Presidente: ‘Ibalik ninyo yung drug war sa PNP.’ So ibabalik din,”  Pimentel said. /atm