In an interview on ANC, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– Pulse Asia survey on the war vs drugs
– PDEA’s lead role in anti-drug war
– On the Senate holding impeachment trials

Quotes from the interview… 

On recent surveys where nearly 9 of 10 Filipinos believe the war on drugs, but 73% believe EJKs exist:
“(Out of) frustration. They accept. Parang ganoon ang dating. Kasi we’ve been through several leaderships, several administrations. And Filipinos have gotten used to the more of the same type of leadership. And it’s only now that they see in PRRD that mukhang may change na mangyayari because of the political will, the dogged determination in eliminating the drug problem in the country.”

On PDEA’s lead role in the government’s war vs drugs:
“The problem with PDEA is that they are so undermanned. During the committee hearing, because I’m the one sponsoring the budget of PDEA and DDB, they told me they submitted a budget of more than P2 billion, and only P1.2 billion was approved by the DBM… I saw it fit to augment their budget by P1.2 to 1.4 billion more.”
“(W)hen they presented their budget proposal to the committee, they said they needed 81 offices in all the provinces, because there are 81 provinces; district offices in NCR. Lahat, pati purchase of vehicles, improvement of facilities, guns and recruitment of additional personnel, they need an additional 1,200 more personnel.”

On proposals to replace the BOC with 2 bureaus:
“But it’s going to be unwieldy and will make things more complicated. Because how can now they synchronize their movements? The bureau that will be in charge solely of collecting taxes and there’s another bureau that will take care of law enforcement. Parang mahirap yata. It should be well-defined, their functions and delineations.”

On the prospect of the Senate holding impeachment trials for officials including outgoing Comelec chairman Andres Bautista:
“First with Chairman Bautista, crippled na ang Senate. Wala na kaming magagawa. Kasi naroon ako sa trial kay the late Chief Justice Corona. Wala nang magagawang iba. If the impeachment complaint kay Bautista na-transmit sa amin necessarily we have to hold trial, form ourselves into an impeachment court.”
“Pag nakagsabay-sabay sa Senate wala nang mapasang bills. Pati budget, tax reform package matatamaan.”

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