Filipinos have nothing to worry about their safety if they are not involved in the narcotics trade, Malacañang said yesterday amid the government’s war on drugs.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after a Social Weather Stations survey showed majority of Filipinos were worried they might become victims of extrajudicial killings.
“Alam mo ‘yung mga nangangamba hindi ano ‘yun, hindi kataka-taka dahil may mga namamatay sa mga drug buy-bust operation. pero kung hindi naman sila involved, wala silang dapat na ikabahala,” Panelo said in a radio interview.
In the survey conducted last December, 78 percent of the 1,440 respondents were worried that they or anyone they know will be a victim of extrajudicial killings, five percentage points higher than the 73 percent recorded in June 2017.
The survey also showed 22 percent said they were not worried, down five percentage points compared to 27 percent in June 2017.
The survey indicated that 71 percent believed the government was serious about solving the extrajudicial killings, compared to 63 percent in June 2017.
In his remarks yesterday, Panelo said the government’s campaign against illegal drugs has been “successful” so far, citing the arrest of many drug offenders and dismantling of drug laboratories.
The Palace official took pride that the government’s gains in the campaign against illegal drugs were not attained by the previous administration.
On the discovery of cocaine packages floating on the country’s shores, Panelo acknowledged the government was having difficulty patrolling its vast shoreline. He said it was easy to enter the country due to many access points to various islands.
“Maraming paraan ang pagpasok sa bansa. Geographically, ang ating lugar madaling pasukin dahil hindi mo mababantayan ang lahat ng islands dito sa dami. kaya nakakapasok pero the fact is nahuhuli,” he said.
President Duterte earlier declared plans to wage a harsher war on drugs following the involvement of foreign cartels such as the Sinaloa of Mexico and Medellin of Colombia in drug trafficking.
Duterte argued that the discovery of cocaine packages in the country’s shores proved that the notorious syndicates were operating in the country. (Genalyn Kabiling)
