Rody to seek Congress consensus on drug menace

Admitting he cannot do it alone because of the sheer magnitude of the problem, President Duterte said yesterday he would consult Congress on measures to solve the drug menace.

Duterte said his latest list of officials involved in narcotics is so thick that it would be an “impossible dream” to prosecute all of them.

He revealed there are thousands of policemen and barangay captains and a few mayors and national officials in the list.

“I do not know how to find a solution,” Duterte said. “What I am trying to say is, I will call maybe

for a consensus, all senators and congressmen. The problem is so serious and I will tell you, I cannot do it alone.”

Duterte said there are about 10,000 drug networks throughout the country. “What will I do? Kill all of them?”

Duterte claimed the portals of the national government have been opened to narco politics with the election of Sen. Leila de Lima, whom he accused of receiving money from drug lords.

“The Philippines has a problem. The problem was hidden all these years until I became president, everything went out,” Duterte said.

“Will we prosecute them one by one? Impossible dream. We cannot track them everyday. But they are really validated. Some of them judges. It has affected the entire gamut.”

Duterte has linked about 160 incumbent and former government officials to the drug trade. More than 3,000 drug suspects have been killed, about half of them in legitimate police raids, since Duterte assumed the presidency.

According to Duterte, there are about 3.7 million addicts in the country. He said the figure might increase to four million by the end of the year.

“Four million will affect certainly this generation. This generation includes your children and grandchildren. It will have an impact if you are not careful,” Duterte said.

In the fight against illegal drugs, Duterte has the Philippine National Police (PNP) as spearhead.

Duterte noted China is the main source of illegal drugs being imported in the country.

China, however, has provided the tools to sustain the illegal drug campaign.

PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said China has provided a planeload of anti-drug equipment.

“Upon our return ( from China) we brought in 115 boxes of equipment, among them armored vest. The rest, I cannot tell you because we don’t want them ( drug offenders) to know that we are now that good in our monitoring against them,” Dela Rosa told a news conference yesterday.

The anti- drug equipment formed part of the wideranging cooperation that the Philippines got from Beijing out of Duterte’s official visit to China last week.

Dela Rosa said the Chinese leadership is also worried over his and Duterte’s safety in the ongoing war on drugs.

According to Dela Rosa, the Chinese made off ers to ensure their safety.

“They want to give me what I need but I don’t want to take advantage of their offer and just tell them that any assistance will be most welcome,” he said.

Dela Rosa said Beijing has agreed to the PNP’s request on information exchanges over the prevailing narcotics trade between China and the Philippines and the Chinese personalities behind the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

What the PNP really needs now is to limit, if not plug, the supply line of shabu ingredients coming from China.

This developed as the PNP reported that close to 200 policemen have been found positive for illegal drug use.

Chief Supt. Aurelio Trampe, director of the PNPCrime Laboratory, said that of 159,129 policemen who were subjected to random drug tests from January to October, 174 of them tested positive for drug use.

Of these, Trampe said 167 are uniformed personnel, the highest rank is senior inspector, while seven others are non-commissioned police officers.

Trampe said the policemen found positive for illegal drugs will face investigation and probable dismissal from the service.