(NI NOEL ABUEL)

DISMAYADO si Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon sa ginawang pag-amin ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) na nangyayari pa rin ang pagre-recycle ng nakumpiskang illegal na droga mula sa mga drug syndicates.

Ayon kay Drilon, na dating naging kalihin ng Department of Justice (DOJ), nababahala ito sa sinabi ni PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino na tuloy pa rin ang operasyon ng sindikato ng droga sa bansa sa kabila ng mahigpit na kampanya ng pamahalaan laban dito.

Aniya, patunay lamang ito na bigo ang kampanya ng pamahalaan laban sa illegal na droga na isinusulong ng administrasyong Duterte.

” I am disgusted. I am saddened by the report of the PDEA that recycling of shabu is rampant. This recycling involves law enforcement agencies. As asserted by no less than the PDEA chief, there is rampant recycling, I am not very optimistic about the success of the anti-drug campaign, in general. We hope that specific measures can be undertaken to prevent this horrible practice from continuing. When I was secretary of justice and this was years ago, I already heard of this when we would call our witnesses and confront him why the amount of drug confiscated is different from the amount of drug presented to the court, the response is: kinain po ng daga. That is the kind of ‘cavalier’ attitude that I saw. Unfortunately today, it’s on a larger scale, mas malaki ang mga daga ngayon,” sabi ni Drilon.

Nakababahala aniya na sa kasalukuyan ay nasa pangangalaga ng PDEA ang P22 bilyong halaga ng illegal na droga na sumasailalim pa sa inventory na dapat umanong matagal nang dinispatsa.

“Can you imagine, P22 billion worth of inventory of shabu dating back in 2010, when, in fact, nine years ago it should have been destroyed. The temptation is always there. You have to spend a lot of budget in order to make sure that this does not happen, but it can be prevented by destroying the drugs, within the period required and with proper authorization,” sabi ni Drilon.