Ex-PDEA chief Santiago says anti-drug war has to be “re-engineered”

June 21, 2017

Former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Dionisio Santiago said on Wednesday the government's campaign against illegal drugs has to be "re-engineered." "It could not always be killings," said Santiago, who headed PDEA from 2006 to 2011, in a forum in Quezon City. Santiago, who was Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, refused to confirm if he would be the incoming DDB chairman. "We have to re-engineer the anti-drug campaign," Santiago said, while he considered the Philippine National Police's Oplan Double Barrel I and II as "successful." He said those involved in illegal drugs are now thinking twice before they engage again into narcotics. According to sources, Santiago could be incoming chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board after President Rodrigo Duterte fired Benjamin Reyes last month for "contradicting" his number of 4 million suspected drug users in the country. Reyes had cited in a forum, which Agnes Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or abitrary executions also attended at the University of the Philippines, that there were 1.8 million drug dependents in the country based on a survey in 2015 which the DDB commissioned. Some ways to re-engineer the campaign against illegal drugs are the provision of livelihood for the drug peddlers and to improve the environment, such as providing lights to unlighted areas, Santiago said. Even rehabilitation centers should be restructured, like providing livelihood to the patients and they should not be visited by their relatives, he added. It was Duterte's campaign promise to address the drug problem as he cited Santiago's figure when he was still the PDEA chief that there were three million drug users and pushers in the country. Duterte came up with four million suspected drug users after over a million drug dependents and pushers "surrendered" to authorities for the past six months up to December last year apparently for fear that they could also be killed. Duterte simply added Santiago's three million estimate and the 1 million "surrenderees." Duterte has been criticized locally and internationally for the increasing number of killings of individuals allegedly involved in illegal drugs. As of June 16, the Philippine National Police has recorded 12,833 incidents of killings or 14,140 fatalities since July 1, 2016. Of the total incidents, 2,098 were considered to be drug-related, while 2,535 were said to be non-drug related, such as heated arguments, personal grudge, love triangle and others. A huge number or 8,200 were incidents "with motive to be determined." Of the total incidents, 3,194 were classified as murder cases and 970 as homicide cases, both already cleared or filed in court. On the other hand, 8,669 homicide cases were not yet cleared. Among the 18 regions, the top five which have the highest number of killing incidents since the war on drugs started were the National Capital Region (2,560), Calabarzon (1,653), Central Luzon (1,143), Davao Region (845), and Soccsksargen (718). Cordillera Region has the lowest number of killing incidents, with 158 cases. Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Jackie de Guia said her office has been handling 646 alleged drug-related death incidents. Of these, 90 percent were being investigated on the initiative of the CHR, while the remaining 10 percent have complainants. Of the total cases being handled by the CHR, De Guia said about 20 have already been filed in court. (Celerina Monte/DMS)