Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Wednesday vowed to remain compose to its mandate despite the budget cut they received under the 2019 General Appropriations Bill.
In a press briefing, PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon admitted that the said 40-percent budget cut may affect their procurement on intelligence and protective equipment, as well as the recruitment of new agents.
From the P2.5-billion allocated budget in 2018, the anti-narcotics agency will receive P782-million appropriation once Pres. Rodrigo Duterte sign the enrolled copy of the budget that was submitted to the palace last night.
Based on the data released by PDEA, there is an increase in the number of drug personalities that have been killed during buy bust operations at 5,281 from July 2016 till last February.
Over 170,000 were arrested both civilian and uniformed personnel in 123,000 operations, while P29.29-billion worth of illegal drug and paraphernalia were confiscated.
PDEA is more determined now to continue its clearing operations following their of leading over 50-percent of barangays in the country been cleared to illegal drugs.
