PDEA to collate all drug watchlists

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will collate all the lists of drug personalities identified by law enforcement agencies and consolidate this into a single national w at chl i st .

"We will come up with a national watchlist which will be a watchlist for all including PNP (Philippine National Police), PDEA, everyone. Hindi katulad ngayon may sariling watchlist ang PDEA, ang PNP, ang barangay so iba-iba ang numero na binibigay (kung ilan ba talaga ang involved sa drugs)," PDEA director Aaron Aquino said Friday, June 1.

"Kung ilan ang nasa list hindi ko pa alam (I still do not know how many names would be on the list)," he added.

Aquino said he called for a meeting with the concerned agencies, including the PNP and the Department of Interior and Local Government on June 25, for them to consolidate their respective drugs watchlists.

President Rodrigo Duterte's watchlist alone containes 6,000 narcopol i t i ci ans.

"Sa ngayon maintain natin yung 14 million drug offenders na record pa noong 2015. But for sure bumaba na 'to dahil sa dami ba namang naaaresto at nagsu-surrender," said Aquino.

On April 20, PDEA officials released a list drawn up by the barangays that contained 207 names, including 90 village chairmen.

Aquino had said the names on the list were validated on the ground by four law enforcement units.

The list was released two weeks before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. (SunStar Philippines)