With President Duterte’s pronouncement during his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the war on drugs “will not be sidelined”, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Officer-in-Charge Eduardo M. Año says the Department is fully behind the President in “protecting the lives, freedoms and property of every Filipino” against illegal drugs, crime, and corruption.
“The DILG and our attached agencies are one with the President in his vision of providing a comfortable and peaceful life for every Filipino without the menace of illegal drugs, crime and corruption. We will support him in every step of the way to ensure that this vision will be fulfilled,” Año says.
President Rodrigo Duterte, during his SONA yesterday, vowed that his administration’s war on drugs “will not be sidelined” and will continue to be as “relentless and chilling” as when it began.
He said he will also continue to chase down corrupt government officials at the risk of losing friends, saying that “one day justice will catch up with those who steal government funds.”
The DILG is one of the lead agencies implementing the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign through the Philippine National Police’s (PNP’s) Campaign Plan against Illegal Drugs.
From July 2016 to June 2018, there were 8,838,860 tokhang activities conducted where 1,271,385 illegal drug personalities surfaced or surrendered.
A total of 86,621 anti-illegal drugs operations were conducted with the police arresting 136,129 and neutralizing 4,221 illegal drug personalities during police operations.
With increased efforts to eradicate the root cause of crimes in the country, around 7 out of 10 Filipinos consider the administration’s illegal drugs war as the “most important” accomplishment, according to a June Pulse Asia survey released on Monday.
“We are working to strengthen our Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs) to better enforce our barangay-level drug clearing operations,” says Año.
As of June 2018, a total of 42,029 or 99.96% of the 42,036 barangays nationwide including ARMM have organized/reorganized their BADACs. Of which, 17,663 or 44% BADACs have created their own Action Plans.
Under Duterte’s leadership, the Philippines has seen a significant decrease in crimes such as homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, carnapping and cattle rustling.
From 1,325,789 crimes during the first three years of the previous administration, crime volume decreased to 1,040,987 in July 2016 to June 2018.
This brought efficiency in solving crimes to 62.51% and clearing cases to 75.50% in June 2016 to July 2018.
Meanwhile, the Department has actively contributed to the protection and rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi City and nearby municipalities.
The PNP arrested a total of 35 Maute ISIS members and rescued 141 hostages.
“With the end of terrorism in Marawi City, the Department provided its steadfast support and assistance in the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and we are happy for the homecoming of the 27,346 individuals and 114,590 families to their homes,” says Año.
Rehabilitation efforts
In his SONA, Duterte also urged local government units (LGUs) to proactively enforce laws and not wait for national government to “swoop down” to push them to act in order to prevent the same thing to happen to them as in Boracay.
The DILG thus calls on LGUs to implement environmental laws and make their tourism eco-friendly.
With Boracay Island’s rehabilitation ongoing, the DILG is strictly monitoring the progress.
As of July 1, 2018, compliant establishments have increased to 228 from 95 businesses.
The Department created the Boracay Inspection Committee (BIC) to inspect business establishments in their compliance with environmental, local and national permits.
The DILG also supports the President’s push of a law creating Department of Disaster Management.
