Remulla: Marcos Admin to focus efforts on big-time drug suppliers

The Marcos administration wants to put an end to small-time buy-bust operations conducted daily or weekly, and refocus on the big-time drug suppliers, according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

In The Mangahas Interviews, Remulla said that the country’s real problem with illegal drugs was the big drug players and multi-million peso enterprises, thus the government's concentration should be on them.

“Ang ating sinasabi ngayon, itigil na ‘yang tingi-tingi na ‘yan na buy-bust araw-araw .01% na isang gramo, ikukulong mo ang tao panghabang buhay. Tigilan na natin ‘yan. Let’s be better enforcers. Let us look at the problem from the source, not from the… Ang mas mahalaga, itigil na natin itong cara-cruz operations,” he said.

(What we are saying is: let's stop with these piecemeal daily buy-busts of .01%, one gram and you send someone to jail for life. Let's stop this. Let’s be better enforcers. Let us look at the problem from the source, not from the... What's important is we be done with these small-change operations.)

“Dapat doon talaga tayo nagko-concentrate kung paano aawatin ang pagpasok ng Pilipinas at kung paano aawatin ang pagdi-distribute ng droga sa Pilipinas,” he added.

(That's where we should concentrate - how to stop the entry of drugs and how to stop its distribution.)

In contrast to his predecessor, Remulla said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. “wants a more compassionate form of justice.”

In May 2022, Marcos said that former President Rodrigo Duterte asked him to continue the war on drugs, but in his way.

Meanwhile, Remulla vowed that all reforms to the country’s criminal justice system would be completed before the 2028 elections.

“Lahat ng ating ginagawa, tatapusin natin before 2028. By 2027, tapos lahat ng ating mga in the pipeline na pagbabago na kinakailangang gawin para sa ating system of criminal justice,” the Justice Secretary said.

(Everything that we are doing, we will finish before 2028. By 2027, all the changes in the pipeline that are needed for our criminal justice system will be finished.)

In November last year, the Marcos administration launched an anti-illegal drugs advocacy program dubbed "Buhay Ay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan (BIDA)."

This program will work with barangays, the church and religious communities, and families to address the drug problem and rehabilitate those addicted to illegal drugs. — DVM, GMA Integrated News