UNDER previous directors, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 made a lot of successful antidrug operations. But why does the illegal drug problem persist in Western Visayas?
PDEA Region 6 has a new director. He has his work cut out for him. He has to deal with emerging drug personalities, perhaps drug trafficking inside jails, and sustaining the gains of barangay drug-clearing operations, among others.
Western Visayans no doubt support PDEAās campaign against illegal drugs. But the agency must be reminded that drug trafficking is an organized crime on a massive scale. The new PDEA-6 leadership will never make any substantial headway in the campaign if the sources of these drugs are left unchecked.
PDEA has to attack the drug problem at the source, which is the funding, manufacture, and distribution of illegal drugs.
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.
The Philippines has become a hub for international drug syndicates. There were reports of āforeign investorsā funding large-scale manufacture and operations of illegal drugs such as shabu. āDrug investmentsā in the country should be pinpointed.
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.
Thereās no doubt that a more calibrated campaign is needed to solve the drug menace.
