‘Anti-drug campaign more effective under Marcos’

MANILA, Philippines — The anti-drug campaign under President Marcos has delivered more results despite the government’s strict policy on the observance of human rights in law enforcement operations, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.

He said the administration has ushered in a new era in the campaign against illegal drugs – one that is grounded in accountability, science and rule of law – without resorting to killings.

Remulla said a major shift took place, putting an end to the reward-based system in the Philippine National Police (PNP) that encouraged police abuses, including unlawful killings.

He said after he became head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the DILG prioritized eliminating corrupt practices within the police force, particularly in hoarding seized narcotics, submitting a fraction of the drugs and recycling the rest back to the market.

“There is no reward system under the time of President Marcos,” Remulla said in a statement.

He added that in just the first half of the Marcos administration, law enforcement agencies have nearly surpassed the accomplishments in the six-year war on drugs of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Citing latest data, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Isagani Nerez said illegal drugs worth P82.79 billion were confiscated by the PDEA, PNP and other law enforcement units during the first three years of the Marcos administration.

Nerez said the amount is just P8 billion shy of the P91 billion worth of illegal drugs confiscated during the entire tenure of Duterte as president.