Braindead Senator Bato Wants Drug Use Decriminalized in Order to Decongest Jails

If there is one thing Senator Bato does well it is living up to his name which means rock. One would have to have a head made of stone to come up with his ideas. Take decriminalizing drugs for instance. It's a controversial topic which requires a lot of thought to balance out public safety, public health, and justice. But for rock-headed Bato it's a lot more simple than that. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1697832/bato-dela-rosa-now-having-second-thoughts-on-legalizing-drug-use

Senator  Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has admitted he is now having second thoughts about his proposed law that would decriminalize illegal drug use in the country.

Legitimizing the use of controlled substances, which is contained in his Senate Bill No. 202, was among those discussed  last Tuesday by the  Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs which dela Rosa chairs.

Senate Bill No. 202 was filed last July.

(That bill that I authored – which I will sponsor in the plenary, if approved – we created it during the height of our war on drugs where our jails were already getting congested with drug offenders.)

(So we filed this out of pity for those crammed in jails. We want to decongest jails so I thought that maybe we can decriminalize illegal dug using.)

After just one hearing though, dela Rosa said he is now rethinking amid arguments presented during the deliberation.

He cited in particular the strong stance of law enforcement agencies against his proposed law as it might send a wrong signal to the public that drug use is okay since no one will get jailed for doing it anyway.

(I’m having second thoughts now, being the proponent of such a measure.)

“That’s the beauty of Senate hearings, napakinggan mo both sides at ‘yun nga being the proponent of such [a] measure medyo nagdadalawang isip ako ngayon.”

(That’s the beauty of Senate hearings, you can hear both sides and as I said, being the proponent of such a measure, I’m now having second thoughts.)

The senator, however, clarified he is not withdrawing his bill as the committee will still hold another meeting to hear more arguments.

Despite knowing that any proposal to decriminalize drug use would be opposed by law enforcement Bato and Robin Padilla filed Senate Bill 202 out of pity to decongest the jails. Goodness knows Philippine jails are dangerously overcrowded. And Bato's solution is not to fix the jails by making them larger or improving them in anyway but it is to decriminalize drug use. As if that will solve the problem of decongestion. 

One anti-drug group pointed this out.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/852581/anti-drugs-group-opposes-decriminalization-of-illegal-drug-use/story/

An anti-drugs advocacy group on Friday expressed opposition to the proposed decriminalization of illegal drug use, warning of its possible dangers to the community.

“The bill is good for the ears but it’s actually foolishness,” Anti-Drugs Advocate, Laban ng Pamilyang Pilipino chairperson Jonathan Morales told Dobol B TV in an interview.

Morales said psychologists or psychiatrists should take part in evaluating the proposed measure because they know the “state of mind” of drug users.

(If they mix these drug users with the community, it would be dangerous, even more so if they decriminalize the use of illegal drugs just to decongest the jails.)

He added that the government should improve jail facilities instead to address the congestion problem.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a former national police chief, earlier said he wants to decriminalize the use of illegal drugs to decongest jails and address drug addiction as a health issue instead of a law enforcement matter.

Instead of putting them in jails, Dela Rosa said drug users should only be admitted to rehabilitation centers.

However, Morales pointed out the corruption issues that hound some rehabilitation centers, as well as problems in management, administration, logistics, and monitoring in these facilities.

(There was bribery in the centers between the patients and the people taking care of them. Certifications were being issued that these patients are already well but in reality they are not.)

Patients who are paying receive privileges and special treatment while staying in rehabilitation centers, according to Morales.

Morales also pointed out there is only a small percentage of users who are not pushers because most of them are already selling illegal drugs so they can pay for their own supply.

The fact of the matter is drug use does not need to be decriminalized in order for jails to be decongested. In 2014 the Supreme Court issued guidelines on how to decongest jails. They recommend two things: enforcing the rights of the accused persons to bail and a speedy trial.

https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/1476/

A speedy trial in the Philippines? Sometimes cases take decades. The justice system is completely wrecked when it comes to speedy trials.

The most congested prison in the Philippines is New Bilibid and the DOJ is implementing measures to clean it up.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1183555

The sweet taste of freedom finally came for 371 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who were released Monday, even as the Department of Justice (DOJ) also submitted the names of 300 other PDLs to Malacañang for the possible grant of executive clemency.

"The 371 released were a result of the DOJ and Bureau of Corrections' (Bucor) computation (of time served) with the help of Public Attorney's Office (PAO) lawyers," DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano told reporters.

Clavano said DOJ Secretary Crispin "Boying" Remulla, PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, and Bucor Director General Gerald Bantag "collaborated to make this possible. Today, 300 more are up for executive clemency."

The 240 majority of the 371 PDLs released already served their maximum sentence, 98 qualified for parole, while 31 were acquitted and two qualified for probation.

At least 191 PDLs, were from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, 37 from the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW), while 143 PDLs came from other prison and penal facilities run by the Bucor.

Forty-five including four women were senior citizens.

Remulla, who has announced the prisons' decongestion as a top priority of his office personally visited the NBP.

"This may be the largest mega prison in the world. There may be no other facility with this number of inmates," he said.

Remulla said consultants place the ideal capacity of NBP at 2,500 individuals. "The ideal number in a prison facility is around 2,500. We have more than 10 times that number here in Bilibid," he said.

Remulla said subsequent release of qualified PDLs will follow in the following months. "This is just the beginning, we plan to release PDLs in the coming months. If we get lucky, there will be a batch of PDLs to be released in October, another batch in November, and another batch by Christmas," he said.

Just Google "decongest jails Philippines" and many articles about this problem and its solution will turn up. 

It's simply mind-boggling that the man who was once the head of the Philippine National Police thinks that the decriminalizing drugs is a perfect solution to decongesting jails. Was he not aware of this problem and its various solutions during his term as the top cop?  Here is an article from 2017 when Bato was PNP Chief. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/16/1710620/philippine-jails-511-congested-audit-finds

The state auditors attributed the jail congestion mainly to the “increase in the number of drug-related cases in the country” as well as the court’s slow or no action on the pending cases “due to lack of judges, postponement of hearings and the slow disposition of criminal cases that carry the penalty of reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.”

The court also noted that many detainees qualified to post bail remain in jail due to poverty.

“Some cases were bailable but detainees who are below poverty line cannot afford to post bail so they were stuck in the jails,” the report read.

The report further noted that the lots where some jail buildings were constructed “were of limited space, hence, construction or expansions horizontally of the said buildings may not be possible.”

Slow or no action on pending cases and too many poor people able to post bail. Yet three years previously these two exact problems were what the Supreme Court recommended being fixed in order to decongest jails and here we are in 2022 with the same problems. And Bato really thinks decriminalizing drug use will decongest the jails? What an idiot!