Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa
MANILA – To sustain the efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has pushed for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1952 which seeks to institutionalize anti-drug abuse councils (ADACs) in the provinces.
“In view of the continuous efforts of the Duterte administration, active and unified involvement of various government and non-government agencies is necessary to sustain and ensure that all local government units will be free from illegal drug activities, one of the major problems of the country,” dela Rosa said in a statement on Wednesday.
The establishment of ADACs in communities, dela Rosa said, will act as the main implementing organs for the prevention, rehabilitation, and monitoring of drug dependency cases in the country.
“This measure, once passed, will also aid the government in attaining a drug-free Philippines by the year 2022,” the senator said.
In a report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), more than 10,000 high-value targets (HVTs) across the country have been arrested since the start of the Duterte administration's crackdown on illegal drugs in mid-2016.
Based on the Real Numbers data of the Presidential Communication Operations Office, a total of 10,721 HVTs were arrested from July 1, 2016 to Oct. 31, 2020.
PDEA records further showed that 266,126 drug suspects were nabbed in 183,525 anti-illegal drug operations during the same period.
“This measure, once passed, will also aid the government in attaining a drug-free Philippines by the year 2022,” dela Rosa said. (PNA)
