Año confident Duterte admin’s ‘war on drugs’ can be sustained

DEADLY POPULISM The drug war still has large public support despite mounting legal challenges to it both in the Philippines and abroad. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año is confident that the Duterte administration’s controversial “drug war” would be sustained.

Año made the remark during the pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) media briefing on Wednesday, saying that the national government has achieved “many accomplishments” in its brutal war against illegal drugs.

The program has been criticized locally and internationally over alleged abuses particularly in police operations that ended in the deaths of alleged drug pushers.

“Tayo ay kampante na masusustain ‘tong ating kampanya against illegal drugs,” Año said.

Año said that of the more than 42,000 barangays in the country, 21,891 are now cleared of illegal drugs.

More than 289,600 have also been arrested in the drug operations and over P58 billion worth of illegal drugs have also been seized, he added.

According to Año, the national government’s campaign against illegal drugs has already been institutionalized with the creation of the Inter-agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs.

Several programs and mechanisms have also been in place to reduce the demand and the supply of illegal drugs such as the establishment of drug abuse rehabilitation centers.

Last month, former International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda formally requested judicial authorization to investigate the crimes against humanity case filed against Duterte in relation to his administration’s drug war.

Bensouda noted that based on information gathered by her office, there is reason to believe that state actors have killed thousands of civilians under the war against illegal drugs.

KGA