MANILA – Sen. Leila de Lima has sounded alarm over the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) making a Facebook page to gather information on drug suspects and their illegal activities.
De Lima said the “Isumbong mo kay Wilkins” page made by the office of newly-appointed PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva was “a dangerous move.”
The “Isumbong mo kay Wilkins” Facebook page encourages tipsters to file their reports online or through the provided mobile numbers. The said page so far has over 3,000 followers.
“We can imagine a corresponding spike in the surreptitious and malicious tagging of just any person as a drug personality, whether real or fake, and for whatever reason,” De Lima said.
The detained senator also took note of the recent surge of bogus Facebook accounts, which is now being investigated by the National Privacy Commission and the Department of Justice.
De Lima also questioned why PDEA would resort to such program when the government has billions of pesos in confidential and intelligence funds.
“Cases such as mine – completely fabricated and bogus – are sure to multiply with such an ill-conceived program,” De Lima added.
De Lima, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, has been detained since 2017 over drug charges that she calls trumped-up./PN
