PDEA opposes Senate abolition plan

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) pushed back against a Senate proposal to abolish the agency, warning that dismantling it would undo reforms aimed at unifying the country’s anti-drug campaign.

“The abolition of PDEA at this stage would in effect reverse the very structural reforms previously adopted to address fragmentation, duplication, and lack of coordination in anti-drug operations,” PDEA Assistant Secretary Renato A. Gumban told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The Senate convened the hearing to deliberate a measure that seeks to centralize the government’s anti-drug enforcement by merging PDEA with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).

Mr. Gumban said abolishing PDEA could create “transitional uncertainties and operational gaps” that drug syndicates might exploit.

He urged lawmakers instead to strengthen the agency by expanding its personnel, increasing budget allocations and modernizing equipment, forensic laboratories and surveillance capabilities.

“This will enable the agency to keep pace with technologically advanced and highly adaptive drug syndicates,” he said.

The agency also recommended improving coordination with law enforcement, prosecutors and the Judiciary to address procedural gaps and ensure seamless case flow from arrest to prosecution and adjudication.

“The fight against illegal drugs is not won by dismantling institutions, but by strengthening them,” Mr. Gumban said. “It is not won by restructuring alone but by refining capacity, continuity and competence.”

Senate Bill No. 190, filed by Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, proposes the creation of a Presidential Drug Enforcement Authority, which will serve as the supervising body for the government’s anti-drug program.

“It is better for the DDB and PDEA to be merged into an authority under the Office of the President,” Mr. Sotto said during the hearing. He added that the proposed authority would consolidate enforcement, prosecution oversight, prevention, rehabilitation supervision and alternative development programs into a single body.

Under the measure, PDEA’s enforcement powers would be absorbed by the Philippine National Police and other anti-narcotics agencies. — Adrian H. Halili