Senatorial candidate Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to reconsider its decision of conducting buy-bust operations against sari-sari store owners selling medicines.
Eleazar, a former PNP chief, said police operations should be the last resort after exhausting all the measures to inform sari-sari store owners about the law prohibiting them from selling medicines, and to discourage them from continuously doing so.
He suggested that the PNP, through its chiefs of police and precinct and station commanders, initiates holding dialogues with sari-sari store owners in their respective area of responsibility to inform them about the order of President Duterte to stop the practice of selling medicines since this is prone to selling to fake medicines which only put the lives of the people at risk.
“Always remember that we are dealing here with ordinary citizens who just want to earn money for a living at tiyak ako na may mga kasamahan din tayo sa PNP na yung asawa o magulang ay may sari-sari store din para sa extra income ng pamilya,” said Eleazar.
“Napakasamang tingnan na poposasan mo at kakaladkarin sa presinto ang mga sari-sari store owners na marangal namang naghahanap-buhay para sa kanilang pamilya. Tiyak na ang PNP na naman ang talo dito and it will defeat what we worked hard for in winning the trust and respect of the people we serve,” he added.
Eleazar said that while he agrees and supports the decision of President Duterte to stop the practice of selling medicines in sari-sari stores, he explained that there were instances when sari-sari stores would sell the medicines because local residents would request them to do so for their convenience.
In far flung areas for instance, he said sari-sari stores are the most convenient place to buy medicines as local residents need not to go to the town proper where pharmacies are usually located.
“Kailangan nating ipaliwanag ng maayos sa mga may-ari ng sari-sari store ang kautusan ng ating Pangulo dahil karamihan diyan, lalo na sa malalayong probinsya ay hindi alam na bawal ang pagbebenta ng mga gamot,” said Eleazar.
“At dahil nga malayo ang mga botika sa napakaraming lugar sa Pilipinas, dapat magkaroon tayo ng solusyon upang matugunan namn ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan sa malalayong lugar para hindi na sila gagastos pa ng mahal sa pamasahe sa pagpunta sa mga botika sa bayan,” he added.
Eleazar vowed to push for downloading of commonly-used and maintenance medicines to the communities through the “Botika sa Barangay”.
He said as much as possible, these medicines should be available for free and must also include vitamins for babies and children whom he described as the future workforce and the future of the country.
Eleazar is also pushing for regular visits of doctors in all barangays for free check-ups for local residents.
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