Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte is not keen on becoming a drug czar under the current administration, saying President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must be given
“the greatest elbow room ” to do so in a year.
During an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy Wednesday night, Duterte reiterated that addressing the drug problem in the country is a “matter of leadership.”
“Mukhang hindi na rin tama (I don’t think it’s right), Pastor, because there is the President duly elected and it is his duty to enforce the law and solve crimes,” Duterte told Quiboloy when asked if he would consider the idea of possibly working for the Marcos administration as an anti-drug czar.
“Let us give Marcos the greatest elbow room leeway to do his job in just one year. And in fairness do’n sa mga pulis, ‘yan ang problema (to the police, that’s the problem). The last time I said it, it’s a matter of leadership,” he added.
It was Duterte’s close ally, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who floated the idea during a Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on the P6.7 billion shabu haul in Manila on May 23.
Go asked Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. if appointing Duterte as anti-drug czar will boost the campaign against illegal drugs.
In response, Acorda told Go that he would be “supportive” of any efforts to stomp out the proliferation of illegal drugs.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who served as a chief PNP during the Duterte administration, also backed the call, saying it will bring back fear to policemen and criminal syndicates involved in the illegal drug trade.
In April, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Duterte “encouraged” the bloody drug war, which killed thousands of individuals allegedly engaged in illegal drug trade.
Late in May, the ICC released another report, stating that the families of drug war victims have doubts that their cases could realize progress under the Marcos administration.
Duterte, who initiated the drug war, pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in 2019, a year after the Hague-based tribunal began a preliminary probe into the crackdown.
His successor, Marcos has, so far, ruled out reversing Duterte’s decision to pull the Philippines out of the ICC.
Since Duterte took office in 2016, more than 6,000 were killed in sting operations, based on government figures.
But rights groups estimated the number of drug-war killings could be as high as 30,000.
— Catherine S. Valente
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Credit belongs to : www.manilatimes.net
