MORE HUMANE | Hontiveros backs UN experts on call to end violent global war on drugs

June 27, 2023 , 03:27 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(June 27, 2023) – Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday called on President Bongbong Marcos Jr. to listen to the call of the experts from the United Nations (UN) to end the war on drugs globally and replace the policy with evidence-based and gender-inclusive moves to address the problem more holistically.

She stressed that the heavy-handed approach has not been effective in eradicating narcotics and this disproportionately affects the poor.

“Our experience from the previous administration proves that the law enforcement-heavy war on drugs is ineffective. It only creates opportunities for human rights abuses and violations, and further aggravates the situation of the marginalized communities living in poverty,” said Hontiveros in a statement.

Last Friday, UN experts urged “transformative change in the international approach to drugs” by supporting policies centered on health and human rights. They added that anti-drug responses must abide by international human rights law.

“We urge member-states and international bodies to supersede their current drug policies with ones grounded in the principles of the application of a comprehensive, restorative, and reintegrative justice approach. Effective, community-based, inclusive, and preventive measures are equally important,” said UN experts.

Marcos Jr. has said he wanted to tweak his approach to the anti-drug campaign that is different from the bloody style of former President Rodrigo Duterte. But human rights organizations pointed out that killings have continued under Marcos despite his promised change.

Dahas, an initiative of the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines, has counted 336 drug-related killings under Marcos so far. Duterte’s brutal war on drugs led to the death of around 30,000 people, including those killed by vigilantes.

Hontiveros expressed hope that Marcos will listen to the call of sectors for him to push community-based drug prevention alongside voluntary treatment and rehabilitation.

According to UN experts, compulsory rehabilitation centers must be replaced with “voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services in the community” for a holistic system.

“Inaasahan natin na ang kasalukuyang administrasyon ay makikiisa at makipagtulungang bigyang hustisya ang mga biktima ng war on drugs, repasuhin ang mga kasalukuyang polisiya tungo sa mas komprehensibo, inklusibo, makatao at makatarungang drugs response,” said Hontiveros.

But Sen. Francis Tolentino disagreed with the call to end the global war on drugs, noting that each country must be allowed to approach the problem on their own.

“These UN experts should respect the sovereignty of each country as it deals with its internal situations. Poverty will not end by scrapping the war on drugs, albeit it will increase criminality and impinge on the future of the youth,” said Tolentino.

Meanwhile, Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. noted that the government’s drug-cleansing efforts will not spare anybody.

“We will increase awareness against the use of illegal drugs, strengthen our community-based drug rehabilitation program, empower the youth, engage with the business sector, and promote an active lifestyle,” said Abalos.

(PM)

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