Rappler Talk: Arming the PNP with a stronger anti-drug law

With a year left in President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, the House of Representatives seeks to intensify the anti-drug campaign with a new bill.

Passed on March 2, House Bill No. 7814 aims to give more teeth to the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

It provides legal presumptions on who is considered an importer, financier, or protector of illegal drugs – provisions that human rights activists flagged as unconstitutional.

For example, Section 3 of HB No. 7814 states that anyone spotted in the immediate vicinity of an area where illegal drugs are being sold, delivered, or distributed “is presumed to have been involved” in these illegal acts “unless proven otherwise.”

For the main proponent of the bill, the presumptions are all necessary.

In this Rappler Talk, congressional reporter Rambo Talabong sits down with Surigao congressman Ace Barbers, who is the principal author of the bill and the chair of the House committee on dangerous drugs.

Watch the conversation on Wednesday, March 17. – Rappler.com