MANILA, Philippines — The Holy Spirit is “100 percent in favor” of the Philippines’ war on drugs, according to the country’s top diplomat.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was reacting to a report about Ateneo de Davao requiring random drug testing for students and employees when the new school year opens.
“Finally the Holy Spirit has drilled through thick Jesuit skulls,” Locsin said on Twitter on Saturday.
A netizen asked Locsin: “When will the Holy Spirit drill through the Office of the President?” To which Locsin replied “No, need, since the Holy Spirit is 100 percent in favor of the war on drugs as Pope Francis himself intimated, HS has taken residence in the seat of government.”
A netizen also called the secretary a “blasphemer” for mocking the Holy Spirit.
“The war on drugs has been a failure. Increase in drug importation and as the president said drug users increasing enormously from 3M in 2016 it’s now 8M. Something’s wrong… it doesn’t add up… what’s happening?” another netizen replied.
In a tweet after the senatorial elections, Locsin said President Duterte and the bloody “war on drugs” won the midterm elections.
The country’s top diplomat said the results of the May 13 senatorial elections are an indication of the public’s approval of the relentless campaign against illegal drugs that was the main election issue.
“The elections were a referendum on Duterte and his war on drugs. He and the war just won. So shut the f**k up on that subject everybody. The war goes on,” he said.
Locsin also warned that the war on drugs is a “work in progress” and will be really “painful.”
Meanwhile, the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) collaborated with the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Board and the Sri Lanka-based Colombo Plan to strengthen drug demand reduction initiatives in the Philippines.
The US embassy in Manila said 52 officers from the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Public Safety College, and Xavier University attended the specialized training on substance use disorders from April 22 to May 2.
The goal of the specialized training is to provide the criminal justice sector with an evidence-based, public health approach to reducing drug demand.
This training is a component of the US embassy in Manila’s comprehensive program on drug demand reduction covering prevention, treatment, recovery and policy development.
Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program is the only regional intergovernmental program exclusively aimed at capacity building for drug demand reduction in the Asia and Pacific Region.
INL has partnered with the Colombo Plan in promoting and implementing evidence based practices in substance use prevention, treatment and recovery around the world.