Rody tells LGUs: Intensify drug war

President Rodrigo R. Duterte urges city mayors and provincial governors to intensify their anti-illegal drug campaign in their respective cities and provinces during his keynote speech in the oath-taking ceremony for the newly-elected officials of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) at the Heroes’ Hall of Malacañan Palace on July 27, 2016. KING RODRIGUEZ/PPD

Moments after presiding over his first National Security Council meeting on Wednesday, President Duterte called on local government officials to support his war against illegal drugs, warning that unless the scourge is eliminated, it will haunt the three succeeding administrations.

No details of the five-hour long council meeting—attended by former Presidents Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III, Vice President Leni Robredo, Cabinet secretaries and leaders of Congress—were revealed.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, briefing reporters on Thursday, confirmed that the drug problem was among three major issues tackled, but that Mr. Duterte had requested participants to keep sensitive issues to themselves.

The other issues discussed were the peace initiatives with communist and Moro rebels, the proposed bilateral talks with Beijing on the territorial dispute in the South China Sea and the shift to federalism, according to Palace officials.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told reporters the inputs of the four former Presidents were crucial in the discussion of the China issue and how the Philippines should pursue bilateral negotiations.  “Their experience, their knowledge about the relations with China are very important,” he said.

About an hour after the council meeting adjourned at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Mr. Duterte spoke about the drug problem at  the oath-taking ceremonies in Malacañang of the officers of the League of Cities of the Philippines and the League of Provinces of the Philippines.

The President said that if he does not act against the problem and dismantle the drug apparatus, it will continue to plague the country into the term of the next three Presidents.

“I am here. I have a big problem. Help me. That is why I said, I would be frank… I would finish this,” he said at the oath-taking.

In saying the drug problem was already a crisis, he cited the number of drug users who have surrendered, which he pegged at 170,000.

“Is that a police problem? The police cannot solve it. They are into it. Mind you, that’s not intrigue coming from us. A country friend of ours provided us the intercept,” he said.

Mr. Duterte lamented that people were no longer afraid to violate the law. “The essence of fear to violate a law has been lost,” he said. “With the short, corrosive effect of money, even those at the top could be bought,” he said.

“Unless I destroy the apparatus, they will have a problem. Three Presidents from now would not be able to solve it. Money is too corrosive. So they can buy, you know, judges, fiscals, the police, mayors, governors. That’s how money works,” said the President, who has vowed to eliminate the drug menace in three to six months.

Rehabilitation centers

Mr. Duterte also elaborated on his plan to turn vast military camps into rehabilitation centers. He said this was a stopgap measure until the government could build rehabilitation centers all over the country. He also said the move was for the drug users’ own protection as well as for the public’s.

“I said we cannot build a nation by killing people over the bodies of your fellow citizens,” he said.

So what he would do is control the movements of the drug users. Those whose brains have been addled by drugs would be put into the rehabilitation centers, he said.

“Anyway, we don’t need any legal basis. The legal basis is we take him in for his own protection. That’s why we are allowed to arrest insane people. For compulsory confinement. Why? It is to protect him from harm and to protect the public,” the President said.

Mr. Duterte said he would have to provide doctors and a program for those undergoing rehabilitation. From what he had seen, those who had turned to faith had been successful in resisting the temptation of a drug relapse.

With more than 300 people dead in police operations, human rights groups have sounded the alarm on allegations of extrajudicial killings. But the President has said human rights should not be used to destroy the country.

Extraordinary

Malacañang described the first NSC meeting in recent years as “an extraordinary show of goodwill and unity to discuss defense and security issues facing the nation.”

“This is the Philippine team,” Ramos said.

“The meeting was intended to update and consult with the members of the NSC as the new administration proceeds with its mandate to establish peace and order, create conditions conducive to a more inclusive and better life for all,” according to the President’s spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

Aquino did not convene the NSC  during his term, except for what was described as a “modified” NSC in May last year, when it discussed the worsening conflict with China. Called to attend that meeting were Ramos and Estrada. Arroyo, until last week, had been under hospital detention. The Supreme Court ordered her release, saying the Aquino administration did not have evidence to support plunder charges against her. With a report from Tarra Quismundo