Aguirre bares resurgence of Bilibid drug trade

MANILA, Philippines - The illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) has started to return a year after authorities launched an intensified crackdown under the Duterte administration.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II bared this yesterday as he vowed to address the resurgence of illicit activities at the national penitentiary.

The NBP is being guarded by Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) commandos, who replaced the jail guards in a bid to curb the illegal drug trade in the penal facility. 

“I have received reports that the illegal drug trade at the NBP has returned. We are doing something about this, we are going to end this,” Aguirre told reporters.

A high-profile inmate has reportedly continued his illegal activity despite the crackdown being enforced by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Aguirre said there are “new leaders” who have joined the trade.

He said the resurgence of the illegal activity at the NBP involves at least five to 10 percent of the original operation, which was successfully dismantled under the Duterte administration.

“We have successfully curbed 75 percent of the illegal drug trade. If ever, the resurgence is about five to 10 percent only and we are going to clip it again,” he said.

Aguirre said he had discussed the matter with BuCor chief director general Benjamin de los Santos.

As an immediate measure, Aguirre said the BuCor would replace the PNP-SAF contingent at the NBP.

“We will be changing the SAF contingent with another SAF contingent. The original plan was to bring in Marines there, but since they are focused in Marawi we’ll go with another SAF contingent,” he said.

The DOJ, which has administrative supervision over the BuCor, tapped the commandos last year to guard the national penitentiary.

Reorganization

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) approved the reorganization and renaming of the PNP-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) to Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) and the creation of drug enforcement units (DEUs) under the PNP territorial units nationwide to strengthen the government’s war on drugs.

Earlier this year, President Duterte ordered the PNP to resume the campaign against illegal drugs after temporarily suspending it.

 The suspension was meant to pave the way for the creation of a new strategy that would hasten the implementation of the  anti-drug programs.

Napolcom executive officer Rogelio Casurao said the approval of the PNP proposal to reorganize was meant to make the police force more effective and efficient in the campaign against illegal drugs. ?   

“The creation of drug enforcement units aims to intensify the government’s war on drugs to effectively deal with the complexity of drug operations, involvement of organized crime groups in drug trafficking and in the dismantling of clandestine drug laboratories and other sources of illegal drugs,” Casurao said.

The DEG will conduct operations against national and international syndicates and personalities engaged in the production, importation and trafficking of drugs in support of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The DEUs will serve as the operating arms of the PNP at the regional level down to the city and municipal levels and will implement the PNP’s anti-illegal drug strategy in their areas of responsibility.

The DEG and DEUs are required to coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and strengthen community participation against the illegal drug trade. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla