Villanueva: Drug war effective but rule of law should prevail

SENATOR Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said it cannot be denied that the administration’s ongoing drive against illegal drugs was effective, as evident in the number of people turning in themselves to authorities.

Villanueva said calls for an inquiry into the rising death toll of suspected drug perpetrators should not break the “momentum” of the government’s relentless war against drugs and criminality.

“Sa ngayon po siguro wala namang magsasabi sa atin na hindi ito epektibo. In my own hometown alone, mahigit 700 ang sumuko na sila’y gumagamit ng iligal na droga. So para sa akin this is a welcome development,” Villanueva said in an INQ&A interview on Tuesday evening.

“Ang question is about investigations, etc. Marami na pong nag-iinvestigate eh so why not wait for them. Baka naman po masayang yung momentum nitong paglaban natin sa evils of illegal drugs,” he said.

As of July 25, the Philippine National Police said 289 suspects were killed, 3,974 arrested, and 130,014 voluntarily surrendered amid the campaign against illegal drugs.

A count by INQUIRER.net’s “Kill List,” however, notes 411 deaths between May 10, the day after President Rodrigo Duterte  won the elections, and July 21.

But Villanueva noted that the government should uphold the rule of law amid the spate of killings to ensure that innocent lives would not be put at stake.

“‘Pag hindi po natin na-control po ito, then ‘yung rule of law na gusto nating i-espouse, ang mangyayari niyan magka-crumble din ‘yung rule of law. Importante yung pagbalanse po nito,” he said.

“Sa ngayon ang masasabi ko lang po napakaganda nung nangyayaring drive. In the end pag tinitignan natin yung dulo, siguro we need more time for profiling these cases and yung mga reports na naririnig natin. Madali po kasing magsabi na ganito yung nangyari eh,” Villanueva added.