(Eagle News)–Vice President Leni Robredo was “misled in understanding” the war on drugs, the Dangerous Drugs Board said.
The DDB issued the statement as it expressed “sadness” over Robredo’s comment the campaign was a “failure.”
“It appears that VP Robredo is only looking at the one side of the campaign. While enforcement issues are more evident, we cannot discount the successes we have gained in the demand reduction part of the campaign,” the DDB said.
According to the DDB, in the global scene, the Philippines has had various successes, having been selected as chair of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Cluster of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters.
The DDB noted the DDB executive director also got elected as chair of the heads of national drug law enforcement agencies in Asia and the Pacific Region.
In the local scene, the DDB said the anti-drugs campaign was guided by the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy framework which highlights the drug supply and drug demand reduction initiatives.
The DDB added that 997 local government units already have an existing community-based rehabilitation program for persons who use drugs.
It said this was out of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the country.
A total of 179,152 PWUDs have benefited from these facilities, the DDB said.
“Though much of the agencies of the government have been diligent in performing their roles and responsibilities under the (PADS) which is institutionalized by virtue of Executive Order No. 66, series of 2018, there are still institutions in the government and sectors in the society that need to be informed on PADS,” the DDB admitted.
