(MENAFN - Gulf Times) President Rodrigo Duterte's move to ramp up the war on drugs by bringing the Philippine National Police (PNP) back to boost the lead efforts of the drug enforcement agency shows the seriousness of his intent to end the drug menace as he promised, a political analyst said.
Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, pointed out Duterte's decision was accompanied by a plea to the people to give him another year to defeat the drug problem, given the enormity of the threat and the need for personnel support by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in carrying out the campaign.
'It shows how serious he is in fulfilling his campaign promise, Casiple told Manila Times in an interview.
The political analyst sees nothing wrong with the PNP's return to the campaign because it is part of its mandate.
He views the re-establishment of the role of the PNP as favourable, since the PDEA remains to be the lead agency in the anti-drug campaign.
He pointed out the PDEA alone cannot carry out the mission considering it only has 1,700 personnel tasked to cover
100mn Filipinos who are vulnerable to the drug menace.
Casiple, however, suggested that clear operational guidelines should be established between the PNP and PDEA to avoid overlapping operations and misunderstanding.
'The question here is if the PNP will be willing to comply with the PDEA as the lead agency, Casiple added.
As to the new timetable set for the mission of defeating the drug menace, Casiple said the president could just be trying to emphasise that the administration is serious in pursuing the campaign against illegal drugs.
He said the change in the timetable is not important, so long as the people see that the government is working toward the eradication of the drug problem.
The analyst expects the police to be more careful in carrying out its operations to prevent collateral damage.
He reiterated that when the president declared that he would end the drug problem in six months, he was not aware of how serious and widespread the problem was.
'And with this one-year period we could expect a more serious campaign that would have serious impact on the illegal drug trade in the country, he added.
Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito expressed support to Duterte's decision but would rather see more 'big fish arrested in the anti-drug campaign, instead of small-time pushers and runners.
He noted that most of those who have been arrested and killed amid the campaign against illegal drugs were small-time drug personalities.
The government should also ask for China's help in the drug campaign since most of the drugs entering the country came from there, Ejercito said.
'If China is really our ally why is it that most of the illegal drugs in the country came from them, he added.
Sen. Win Gatchalian renewed on Friday his call to equip policemen with body cameras to ensure bloodless but effective implementation of the government's all-out campaign against illegal drugs.
Gatchalian made the call in reaction to the statement of PNP Drug Enforcement Group Director Joseph Adnol that there was no need for body cameras as policemen have God as their witness. But the senator said fear of God alone clearly was not enough to prevent police scalawags from committing the alleged extrajudicial killings during the PNP's previous drug war operations.
'It is absolutely absurd to suggest that the fear of divine retribution in the afterlife would be more effective than body cameras in addressing police impunity and holding dirty cops accountable for their crimes during our life here on earth, Gatchalian said.
Senate Bill No 1576, or the Police On-Body Cam Act, seeks to equip PNP and PDEA personnel with body cameras and require them to take video and audio recordings of anti-illegal drug and criminality operations in full.
The recordings would then be presented as evidence during administrative, criminal, and civil proceedings concerning any operation tainted with alleged irregularities. The Police On-Body Cam Act, he said, would also help the PNP regain public trust and exonerate police officers wrongly accused of abuses.

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