US grant to help fight extrajudicial killings, drug trade

US Ambassador Harry Thomas. AFP FILE PHOTO

The United States has handed to the Philippines a $584,000 (P25 million) funding to boost cooperation to quell drug trafficking and stop extrajudicial killings, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. signed agreements on narcotics control and law enforcement at the DFA main office Thursday afternoon stipulating the grant, which aims to enhance capabilities of antidrug agencies and investigators handling extrajudicial slays.

The partnership on counternarcotics interdiction and law enforcement support signifies strong US support “to promote human rights and the rule of law in the Philippines,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

“Secretary Del Rosario hailed the signing as “a testament to the broad range of cooperation between the Philippines and the US” which could not have come at a better time, “especially as drug trafficking has also targeted and victimized many OFWs,” the DFA said.

Thomas, meanwhile, reiterated America’s commitment to help the Philippines quell transnational crimes and uphold human rights.

“[The US] is committed to facing the challenges posed by transnational drug trafficking with the Philippines and continue to be the Philippines’ partner in the protection of human rights and bringing perpetrators of EJKs (extra-judicial killings) to justice,” the DFA quoted Thomas as saying.

The funding support will sustain efforts of Philippine agencies for two years, said the DFA.

The US has been among the foremost supporters of Philippine anticrime efforts, most importantly programs to arrest drug trafficking, transnational crimes, terrorism, human trafficking and human rights violations.