“The war against crime and drugs carried out by you is an example to whole world and, personally, to me. The drug menace is rampant in my country and I feel that we should follow your footsteps to control this hazard.”
These were the exact words of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in his speech yesterday, 16 January 2019, at Malacañan Palace.
President Sirisena expressed his admiration to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s hard stance and war against drugs and believes that he must also do the same thing in Sri Lanka. President Duterte also said that the two of them can tie up against illegal drug trafficking.
Based on the record by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on October 2018, there are already 161,584 arrested drug personalities, and an approximate of 5,000 killed during operations.
President Duterte made headlines around the globe for his war against drugs shortly after he took oath to office as the country’s chief executive. Despite having numerous local and international critics, his war on drugs continues.