No sacred cows in drugs drive

Andanar advises those in Duterte list to surrender

Narco-politicians and drug pushers better surrender to authorities now or risk getting killed in police operations as no “sacred cows” will be spared, a Malacañang official said in a radio interview.

“Sa mga nasa listahan, alam nilang nasa listahan sila, eh maigi na lang sumurender na sila. Kaysa naman ma-operate at magkita pa sila ni San Pedro (To people included in the list, it’s better to surrender instead of being operated on and possibly face St. Peter),” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a radio interview last Tuesday.

He said the President is “re-

ally serious” in his war on illegal drugs, and the police and other anti-drug personnel are “now more inspired to go after drug lords, especially narcopoliticians.”

“Walang aatrasan po (There is no turning back). No sacred cows,” he said.

Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, his wife, and several others were gunned down in a series of predawn police raids in Ozamiz City last weekend. The policemen had gone to serve a search warrants. They said the suspects opened fire on them.

Mayor Parojinog was on a list of government officials with suspected drug links named by President Duterte last year.

Andanar said the anti-drug operation against the Parojinogs and filing of drug case against businessman Peter Lim should dispel speculations that the government was running only after “small fish” in its drug campaign.

“Sabi nga ni Bato, talagang sunudsunod na ito, hindi na titigil ito (As police chief Bato dela Rosa said, this will be unrelenting. This will not stop),” he said.

Once the drug suspects in the narcolist are apprehended, Andanar said they will have to face the law.

‘Jaded cynicism’ Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella called former President Benigno Aquino III's comment on the administration's drug war "jaded cynicism" and advised him to look at the facts.

Aquino had questioned the effectiveness of President Duterte's drug war, saying that nothing changed when it comes to statistics on drug users.

"Ang sasabihin ko lang, noong kami 1.8 million (users). Tapos sa isang taon nito na may all-out na kampanya laban sa drugs, 1.8 million pa rin ang sinasabi ng survey at survey nila 'yan (All I can say is that during my term, there were 1.8 million drug users. Now, after a year of an all-out drug war, their own survey shows the same figure)," Aquino said.

"Parang wala yatang nangyari (It seems like nothing really happened)," he added. "Maganda sanang [mai]paliwanag 'yung bakit parehong-pareho 'yung mga numero (It would be better if they can explain why the number is the same)."

"With all due respect to former President Aquino, the results of President Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign speak for themselves," Abella said. "Comments like the above from past leaders imply a jaded cynicism borne of a history of political opportunism," he added.

Abella said much ground has been gained in the campaign against hard drug traffickers and violators. However, he said the goal does not stop there. "The mission is to end the demand, production, distribution, and sale of illegal drugs," Abella said.

Abella said Duterte's drug war resulted in the unprecedented voluntary surrender of more than 1.3 million involved in drugs. He added that 96,703 drug personalities have been arrested in the first year of Duterte's drug war, compared to 77,810 arrested in the six years of the previous administration.

The Palace official also said that 2,445.80 kilos of shabu were seized in the first year of the present administration’s anti-drug campaign compared to the 3,219.07 kilos of shabu seized during Aquino's six years in office.

"Maybe he did not realize the gravity of the drug problem because he simply did not know or never attempted to know it," President Duterte said in November last year.

Aquino said his administration did not launch an all-out war against illegal drugs but was able to reduce the number of illegal drug users. Citing data from the Dangerous Drugs Board, he said the number of drug users when he assumed office was at 1.7 million but they were able to bring it down to 1.3 million mid-term.