MANILA, Philippines — Efforts to stamp out drugs “should shift (into) high gear by focusing on the sourced drug shipments, whether in raw or finished product forms, which, from all indications come from China, and prevent them from reaching our shores,” Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito said Friday.
“We can never win the war against illegal drugs as long as our fight is confined to the streets killing small narcotics retailers, pushers, and drug addicts,” Ejercito said at the end of a week marked by growing anger over the successive killings of teenagers.
“This strategy will only pile up body bags,” he stressed.
Ejercito also noted that hardly any major drug suppliers have been arrested and prosecuted.
“Sana naman makakita na tayo ng mga ‘big fish’ na nakaposas at ihinahatid sa kulungan (We should be seeing ‘big fish’ handcuffed and brought to jail),” he said.
He urged the government to “closely coordinate with Chinese authorities,” saying that, “if they really are a sincere ally, they can put a stop to the shipments of illegal drugs to the Philippines, thereby nipping in the bud … our problem.”
Yet, at the same time, he voiced suspicions “China is turning a blind eye (to) this problem on purpose,” much like during the Opium Wars, except that, instead of the British, “the Chinese “are now the source and instigators of drug shipments to the Philippines.”