Palace: Drug war to continue under Marcos administration

MANILA – According to Malacañang, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. trusts that his chief of police will continue the anti-illegal drugs campaign in the country.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles stated during her press briefing on Thursday that Marcos is confident that Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin would implement policies on how the Marcos administration will handle the problem.

“Tuloy po ang campaign laban sa illegal na droga (The campaign against illegal drugs continues),” she said.

“Pinagkakatiwalaan niya (Marcos) ang kaniyang Chief PNP na mag-set ng polisiya at direktiba ukol dito (The President trusts that his Chief PNP will set policies and directives regarding the matter),” she added.

Angeles also reiterated the sentiments of Azurin that the Marcos administration’s campaign against illegal drugs will adhere to the law.

“Inilabas naman po ni Chief PNP na tuluy-tuloy ang kanilang operasyon (The Chief PNP said that anti-illegal drugs operations are taking place) and they will be compliant with the law pursuant to this,” she said.

In his inaugural speech on June 30 and during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, Marcos failed to tackle the country’s drug problem and how he plans to resolve it.

Despite this, according to Angeles, Marcos will not abandon the fight against illegal drugs even though it was not mentioned in his first SONA.

“The President has laid out his priorities. It doesn’t mean that he’s not going to pay attention to other concerns. This is just the roadmap for his administration,” she said.

“The day-to-day and ongoing activities– these are considered still part of the program, particularly those related to continuity. So just because it wasn’t mentioned doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” she added.

During the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, allegations of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations caught the attention of various local and international groups, including the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Last week, Marcos said the Philippines would not be rejoining the ICC ahead of its investigation of the Duterte-led drug war. According to the data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the infamous campaign resulted in the arrest of 345,126 individuals and the deaths of 6,252 during anti-drug operations as of May 31, 2022.

Before assuming office, President Marcos stated that he would address the war on drugs differently than former President Duterte.