Poe wants illegal drug operations declared national security threat

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines  – Sen. Grace Poe wants illegal drug operations to be declared as a national security threat and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council made a separate Cabinet level agency.

Poe made the two proposals here yesterday to highlight her presidency’s first year should she win in the May elections.

Poe said making illegal drugs a national security threat would mean involvement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the war against narcotics.

“The police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) cannot solve this problem on their own. I firmly believe that we need the assistance of the military. And they can only be involved if we declare drug trafficking as a national security threat,” Poe said.

Poe is also proposing the creation of Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department, as a separate government agency that would only focus on disaster response and emergency relief services.

She said the current system of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and the NDRRMC has “too much bureaucracy prevailing for all the government agencies involved to respond immediately to any impending calamity.”

Poe noted the OCD is under the Department of National Defense (DND), which she said could not immediately order other concerned agencies, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), to perform tasks needed in a specific situation.

If the NDRRMC could level up as a Cabinet agency, Poe said it could immediately act on its own to respond to an incident.

Meanwhile, former senator Francisco Tatad chided Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista for naming Poe as one of the “magnificent seven” candidates for the presidency on May 9 even if she was disqualified by the poll body.

Tatad said Bautista should not issue personal statements on the status of Poe’s disqualification cases, except if the poll body’s full session came up with a resolution stating she is an official candidate. – With Robertzon Ramirez