Duterte willing to serve as next admin’s drug czar

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to give advice to his successor, President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, according to Malacañang. This came after Marcos proposed the idea of designating Duterte to lead his administration’s anti-drug campaign.

In an interview with One Balita Pilipinas, acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte is ready to help the incoming administration, in case Marcos asks for his guidance.

“Handa na ang Presidenteng mag-retire. On the other hand, sinabi niya rin na kung kailangan ng susunod na Pangulo ng kaniyang advice ay nandoon naman siya para tumulong (The President is now ready to retire. On the other hand, he also said he is there to help if the next President needs his advice),” he said.

On Thursday, Marcos stated that he was open to tapping Duterte as his drug czar if the outgoing president is willing.

Marcos made the remark as he bared that Duterte, during one of their conversations before the May 9 elections, had asked him to continue the war on illegal drugs.

He has not yet formally asked Duterte to lead the next administration’s campaign against illegal narcotics.

According to Andanar, he would ask Duterte for reaction when they meet on Monday (May 30).

“Gusto ko ring malaman kung ano ang magiging reaksyon ni Presidente Duterte. Meron kaming last, full Cabinet meeting ngayon darating na Lunes at siguro mapaguusapan ‘yun doon. Tignan natin (I also want to know President Duterte’s reaction. We will have a last, full Cabinet meeting this coming Monday, and perhaps, we would talk about that. Let’s see),” he said.

Earlier, Marcos promised to continue the drug war and sought to go after the big-time drug dealers.

Based on the latest Real Numbers data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, a total of 14,888 high-value targets have been arrested as of March 2022 since Duterte launched the drug war in July 2016.

The nationwide conduct of 233,356 anti-drug operations resulted in the arrest of 336,796 people and the death of 6,241 drug suspects.