THE “NEW” director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas, Alex Tablate, is actually not new to the region. He was assigned here some four years ago before he was reassigned elsewhere. A few months ago he was returned by the agency to Region 6.
Well, has his work cut out for him. He has to deal with emerging drug personalities, alleged drug trafficking inside jails and sustaining the gains of barangay drug-clearing operations, among others.
The Ilonggo public, no doubt, supports PDEA’s campaign against illegal drugs. But the director must be reminded that drug trafficking is an organized crime on a massive scale. His office will never make any substantial headway in the campaign if the sources of these drugs are left unchecked.
Under previous directors, PDEA-6 made a lot of successful antidrug operations. But why does the illegal drug problem persist in the region?
The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) identified the Philippines as a global shabu giant. As early as 2009, its World Drug Report stated that the Philippines ranked fifth in the world in methamphetamine seizures from 1998 to 2007, next only to China and the United States, countries with much larger populations, and Asian neighbors Thailand and Taiwan. This report should have alarmed the government already and prodded it to act immediately. Apparently, the Arroyo and Aquino administrations did nothing substantial.
There’s no doubt that a more calibrated campaign is needed to solve the drug menace. The Philippines has become a hub for international drug syndicates. There were reports of “foreign investors” funding large-scale manufacture and operations of illegal drugs such as shabu. “Drug investments” in the country should be pinpointed.
PDEA has to attack the drug problem at the source, which is the funding, manufacture, and distribution of illegal drugs.
Even if our law enforcers will continue to make arrests or kill pushers everyday they will never truly eradicate the drug menace unless they goes straight to the source.
