MANILA, Philippines — The new co-chair of the multi-agency panel implementing the government’s campaign against narcotics said he would focus on reducing the supply of illegal drugs in the country.
Dante Jimenez, chairperson of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, was tapped by President Rodrigo Duterte to lead the Inter-Agency Committee on Illegal Drugs alongside Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino.
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His appointment came nearly three months after Vice President Leni Robredo—who vowed to end the “senseless” killings in the government's violent campaign against illegal drugs and against drug "personalities"—was booted out less than a month after being designated co-chair.
Jimenez said he would recommend to Duterte and Aquino to intensify the government’s campaign to cut the supply of illegal drugs in the country.
“When you cut it, the demand from the users and those who are into drug trafficking will be practically minimized,” he told ABS-CBN News Channel Monday.
Robredo's suggestions
After she was sacked as ICAD co-chair, Robredo gave the government’s program to fights narcotics a dismal “1 out of 100,” saying authorities were only able to seize 1% of the country’s total drug supply in the last three years.
Citing data from the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, the vice president said around 3,000 kilograms of shabu worth 25 billion are consumed across the country each week but PDEA was only able to confiscate 1,344.87 kilograms last year. The figures were even lower in 2017 at 1,053.91 kilograms and 2018 at 785.31 kilograms.
The vice president had recommended that the government go after big-time drug suppliers, "instead of chasing or killing small-time drug dealers."
She also suggested that the government not look at the drug menace as a purely crime problem, and urged it to “use the lens of health.”
READ: Robredo: Look at drug issue as medical, sociological problem
Jimenez also said he would ensure the destruction of seized drugs.
His predecessor, Robredo, led the ICAD for 18 days in November 2019. In less than a month that she held the position, the vice president demanded transparency and called on the government to address the drug problem using a health-based approach.
Police said just over 5,500 alleged drug dealers and users who fought back have been killed during arrest. But the figure is significantly lower than the estimates by human rights watchdogs of as many as 27,000 killed.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said she seeks to finalize the preliminary examination into the country’s war on drugs in 2020.