REAL NUMBERS. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar (left) and Assistant Secretary and Chief Brand Integrator Ramon Cualoping III grace the "Rehabinasyon: Rehabilitating the Nation, Together" townhall session at the Carcar City Hall's Nice Hall on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. Andanar said the national government will keep on telling the truth about the Duterte administration's war against drugs. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CARCAR CITY, Cebu -- The national government will continue telling the people about the “actual and honest efforts” in solving the drug problem in the country, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on Thursday.
In his speech during the “Rehabinasyon: Rehabilitating the Nation, together” at the City Hall here, Andanar noted the administration’s “significant strides in reaching its goal of positive change” which the people ought to know.
“Rehabinasyon is established to tell the people that rehabilitation programs are given priority and serious attention by the government,” Andanar explained, stressing that the program aims to reach out to the grassroots in the community through townhall sessions.
Andanar cited the significance of telling the factual situation about the campaign of the national government in ending the drug menace in the country, saying that “Rehabinasyon speaks of real numbers, real stories and real solutions.”
“It (Rehabinasyon) communicates truth to the people because the people deserve to know the truth, that is: illegal drugs is one of the biggest lies that plague our country today,” he noted.
“We must bear in mind that illegal drugs is a tough opponent that is impossible to overcome if there is no cooperation,” he stressed, adding that President Rodrigo Duterte cannot win the war against drugs if he is left alone.
“Fight against drugs is a fight of the Filipino people. After all, what we are really fighting for is free, healthy and secure nation for all… War against drugs is an investment for the future – for the children and the future generations,” he told the 300 participants of the townhall session in the Carcar City Hall’s Nice Hall.
Ramon Cualoping III, assistant secretary and chief brand integrator of the PCOO, explained to the residents of this city during the event the significance of telling the “real numbers” in the fight against drugs.
Cualoping said critics of Duterte’s anti-drug efforts keep on sowing misinformation about the numbers of deaths in relation to the campaign.
He recalled opposition to a senator’s claim that the drug war has killed 7,000, while another senator claimed 14,000 were killed. Still, another lawmaker claimed it was 17,000 to 20,000, while a United Nations report cited 27,000.
“PCOO and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency under Director Aaron Aquino launched 'RealNumberPH' as a campaign to inform the people about the real numbers and to correct and dismiss misinformation,” he said.
According to Cualoping, the government has been able to conduct 134,583 anti-drug operations and arrest 193,086 drug personalities.
Of the number, only 5,526 drug personalities died in legitimate anti-drug operation conducted from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019, he said.
In the same period, authorities arrested 7,054 high-valued targets. These figures included 189 foreign nationals, 282 elected officials, 76 uniformed personnel, and 323 government employees, among others.
In a press briefing, the PCOO chief said the government’s drug war has been gaining progress, with the confiscation of a total of PHP35-billion worth of shabu since the campaign started three years ago.
Mayor Mercedita Apura shared during the press briefing that their rehabilitation effort has been fruitful, with around 50 “graduates” of city-funded rehabilitation program also finishing vocational skills training with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and a few have already gone abroad after obtaining National Certification II (NC-II).
Apura said they give one sack of rice for every surrenderer who undergoes rehabilitation and provide them decent jobs as part of their re-integration program. (PNA)
