Cosmetic approach to drug war

“Leni’s moves on her self-styled drug war really have nothing going for it by way of resolving the problems which the drug war has brought.

With the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs inviting Vice President Leni Robredo reportedly to brief the panel on her plan to address the ongoing war on drugs her way, Filipinos hopefully will be informed of her action plan to beat the drug menace.

That she has no plans or strategy on how to defeat the local drug lords and the growing drug problem can be gleaned from what she now says would be a shared work with the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), which she co-heads with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Thus far, Robredo does not seem to have any concrete plans on how to tackle the drug menace. All she seems to have disclosed is her plan to focus on the rehabilitation of drug addicts, which is hardly the way to wage a drug war.

Leni much earlier mentioned that she would want someone from the Commission on Human Rights to be part of her team, including a partnership with the United States (US) and the United Nations (UN).

She bared her plans as she was quoted earlier as having said, “Number 1, I believe that drug addiction is a serious problem that our country is facing.

“Number 2, I am all for a strong national policy against illegal drugs, and I am all for a vigorous anti-drug campaign. But having said that, I also feel that we should do things right. Everything that we’re doing should be within the bounds of the rule of law,” she added.

“Our enemy here is drugs. Because drugs is our enemy, we should also look at it not just using the lens of crime, or criminal justice, but also using the lens of health and the fact that addiction is a medical and a sociological problem,” Robredo stressed.

“I am all for evidence-based strategy and approach,” she also declared.

Robredo’s plans appear to be too cosmetic and all talk, what with her preference for a possible rebranding of the new anti-illegal drugs campaign during her meeting on Friday with members of the ICAD, which she now co-heads along with the PDEA.

Robredo had announced earlier of her discussion with officials of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime where they took on the need to establish more community-based rehabilitation centers since 90 percent of drug dependents in the country are slight or occasional drug users based on government records.

That is probably part of the plan the new drug czarina says she wants to happen — that of having a bloodless drug war, which is too idealistic a plan and one, moreover, that would hardly resolve the problem.

It will be recalled that the Vice President earlier made it clear that she accepted the ICAD post because would be worth the political risk if it meant saving lives and making big-time drug syndicates and those who kill in the name of the drug war liable for their crimes.

The way it has been going — news-wise — is that Leni’s moves on her self-styled drug war really have nothing going for it by way of resolving the problems which the drug war has brought, but perhaps, Leni can clarify just how her plans for a bloodless drug war can be achieved.

Committee chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said Tuesday one reason for a hearing was the possibility of her needing Congress to craft legislation for her programs — that is if she has one at all.

The latest plan she disclosed to the media is that she would be meeting with US officials and will be asking them to help the Philippine government in its efforts to hunt down big-time drug lords.

Robredo said she needs big help from the US by way of knowing what resources would be available, especially in the matter of intelligence.

But what makes her think of US officials? Why does she make them appear she can depend on for intelligence on the big drug lords when the ICAD heads and members already know just who are the big drug lords operating in the country?

The US certainly can have intel information on the drug lords and their operations, but so do the local anti-drug agencies whose officials, it should also be stressed, also share information, not just with US Embassy officials, but also with Asian countries on the drug problem, especially since it is global one.

It’s just that Robredo makes it look like a big deal for the US to be her partner in the drug war. She seemingly portrays it as the savior of the drug menace in the country, giving the appearance of her shrugging off the intelligence gathering powers of the local ICAD heads. Why, Leni does not even take the official data of the death toll presented to her by the anti-drug agencies.

But maybe, just maybe, with a House hearing where she will be called upon as a resource person, the nation will finally know just what plans she has in solving the drug problem in this country, with her nonrealistic approach to the drug war and her dependence on the US.