Palace defends drug war

Andanar: Call for economic sanctions on Philippines uncalled for

MANILA -- Malacañang yesterday defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s aggressive war against narcotics and assured that the President was “in full control” of the situation.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar made this reaction after the London-based newspaper The Guardian posted a story describing Duterte’s antiillegal drugs campaign as “out of control” and that the President needed to be stopped.

“President Rodrigo Duterte is in full control of the drug war,” Andanar said in a press statement.

He said The Guardian’s call for economic sanctions on the Philippines was uncalled for.

“The Guardian’s call for economic sanctions by foreign countries on the Philippines is uncalled for. Threats of withdrawal of development aid and other forms of assistance are totally unfounded,” he said.

An article written by Robert Muggah and posted on The Guardian website stated that Duterte was “upending the country’s (Philippines) international image” because of his deadly war on illicit drug sale.

“On the one hand, he has undermined the prospect of a serious and evidence-based strategy to prevent drug abuse problems,” the article stated.

“His ( Duterte) dragnet collapses users of a wide range of drugs with devastating effect, including violating basic human rights. This kind of impunity cannot be tolerated,” it added.

Aside from economic sanctions on the Philippines, Muggah also suggested that foreign governments withdraw their assistance to the country “if no change of direction materializes.”

Public support

Andanar cited the December 3-6 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that nine out of 10 Filipinos believe the drug problem has declined in their areas since the President took office.

The same SWS survey showed that 77 percent of Filipinos gave an excellent rating to the President’s drug war.

“Public support for and trust in the President remain high as people feel secure in their homes, in the streets, day and night. Incidents of homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carnapping have gone down. Index crime volume decreased 31.67 percent from July to November 2016 compared to the same period in 2015,” Andanar said.

“We hope that other countries will treat the Philippines as a sovereign nation and with mutual respect,” he added.

President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs has resulted in the arrest of over 40,000 drug pushers and users and in the killing of more than 2,000 drug addicts in legitimate police operations.