Stopping drug deaths impossible – PDEA
Credit to Author: Dempsey Reyes| Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2019 16:10:50 +0000
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino threw a dampener on the plan of Vice President Ma. Leonor Robredo to halt drug-related killings, saying it would be impossible to stop the bloodshed.
Aquino, who invited Robredo to join police operations against illegal drugs, said on Sunday that killings would continue because most drug suspects opt to engage lawmen in a firefight.
“There will always be casualties if the intention of these drug offenders is to fight back and you will really see that, that is why I offered her (Robredo) to join us,” Aquino told reporters in an interview.
“Saying that there should be no deaths during operations, that is impossible. We are already having a hard time preventing collateral damage especially if the drug offender is using his own house as a drug den where his family is [also] present,” he added.
Robredo, who presided over her first meeting as co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) on Friday, had pledged to stop drug-related killings.
She also cited the need to reassess the Oplan Tokhang, saying it is a war “against the poor.”
“I think it is incumbent upon us to change that thinking. It is probably time that we think about shifting to something that is effective and that no one is killed senselessly,” she said.
The PDEA chief, however, said he sees no problem with Oplan Tokhang and clarified that the program should not be automatically linked to deaths or killings.
“Why should we remove ‘Tokhang’? Tokhang [is a good program]. There are just some who are saying that Tokhang immediately means death and that is a no,” he said.
Aquino added that the PDEA has purchased 250 body cameras and these had been distributed in the agency’s regional offices “to show that there are no splices” during the actual operations on the ground.
According to the PDEA chief, his invitation to Robredo to attend anti-drug operations would enable her to see how lawmen put their lives on the line.
He vowed to protect the Vice President should she participate in drug operations.
“We will not let the Vice President actually join our entry team [in the target areas]. I won’t do that. I’ve been with the Presidential Security Group for eight years, I secured [former president] Cory Aquino, I secured Fidel Ramos and I know how to secure a [vice] president,” he said.
“During actual operations, we should be in a distance where there should be a safe place for the vice president and after the [target] place is secured, we will inspect it and I just hope there would be a firefight there so the vice president can really see what is happening,” Aquino added.
Robredo had said she is willing to join operations if law enforcement officers think her presence would not be a nuisance.
“Wala tayong inuurungan na challenge. Pero iyong sa akin, ang mahalaga, ano ba iyong magiging resulta ng operasyon? Hindi naman kung sino iyong nandoon (We do not back down from any challenge. But for me, what is important what the result of the operation will be),” she said.
“Kung tingin nila hindi ako makaka-istorbo, I would gladly be there (If they think that I would not cause a disturbance, I would gladly be there),” she added.
But the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) said there is no need for the Vice President to join operations against illegal drugs.
Lt. Col. Alex de la Cerna, DEG’s deputy chief for operations, pointed out that as co-chairman of ICAD, Robredo should only concern herself with policy making.
“There is no need [for Robredo to join the operations], unless there is a specific instruction coming from the PNP chief and [President Rodrigo Duterte],” he said in a radio interview.