DDB says report on drug users will be out April

February 11, 2020

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) on Tuesday said a report for a unified data on the number of illegal drug users in the country will be released in April.

In an interview with reporters, DDB chairperson Secretary Catalino Cuy said the data gathering is ongoing.

“There are just some delays because of the disasters but by the end of this week we should be able to complete that,” Cuy said.

Cuy said interpreting data and preparing the final report will be conducted by March.

“Within early April the result will be released,” he said.

Last January, DDB said they will come out with an updated data on the number of illegal users in the country as a response to the report  by Vice President Leni Robredo.

The DDB and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are the agencies gathering  data on drug use.

The DDB said the latest assessment will finally address questions on the number of drug users in the country.

According to Robredo, there is lack of common and reliable baseline data on the number of drug dependents in the country.

In October 31 2019, Robredo was appointed  co-chairperson of Inter-agency Committee on Anti- Illegal Drugs (ICAD) with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino.

Aquino defended the government’s data on drug users saying it was not messed up and the DDB is now conducting the survey.

"We reported that to the VP. However, I told her that it is very difficult to gather the real data since nobody will admit that he or she is a user or pusher," Aquino said.

On November 24, President Rodrigo Duterte fired Robredo after she committed “missteps" such as talking to foreign individuals and groups which already “prejudged” the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. Ella Dionisio/DMS