PDEA welcomes return of PNP to lead drug war

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency welcomes the return of the Philippine National Police as the lead agency in the government's campaign against illegal drugs, admitting that it did not have enough resources to fight the drug problem.

In a statement, PDEA said that it has been its desire for the PNP to re-assume the lead role in the government's campaign against illicit drugs as it admitted that it did not have enough resources to combat the problem.

"PDEA has repeatedly admitted that it is undermanned, under budget and under equipped, hence, the need for other law enforcement agencies particularly the PNP," it said.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino also welcomed the news and vowed that they would respect and adhere to the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte on the matter.

"We respect and we adhere to the decision of the president. It's a welcome decision. It's a welcome news for us," he said in an interview on ANC.

He emphasized that the lead agency in the campaign did not matter for as long as they were united in the fight against illegal drugs in the country.

He said that Duterte did not give any specific instructions or advice on the drug war upon PDEA's assumption of the lead role in the campaign as the chief executive knew what they were doing.

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He said that during budget deliberations he asked Congress to provide the anti-drugs agency additional funding of between P2.4 to P2.5 billion for equipment, training and hiring of new personnel.

With the budget, they were hoping to hire 1,000 more agents, a number which Aquino admitted was still not enough considering the enormity of the problem.

On Tuesday, Duterte showed that he was bent on bringing the cops back in the ferocious campaign against drugs accused of killing thousands of mostly urban poor Filipinos.

Speaking before soldiers, the chief executive said that the PNP should be involved in the brutal crackdown to prevent further proliferation of methamphetamine or shabu.

“But as of now, just to parry, I placed it under PDEA. But whether I like it or not, I have to return that power to the police because surely, it will increase the activity of the shabu,” he said.

The president admitted that PDEA had not been able to solve the country's drug problems because it lacked the manpower needed to combat the menace. He said that the agency had only 2,000 personnel nationwide.

It was not clear however if the president had made any moves to address PDEA's lack of resources to enable it to lead the campaign.

The president issued a memorandum in October transferring the lead role to PDEA following the public outcry over the killing of teenage suspects in anti-crime operations in Caloocan City in August.