MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday pledged to continue the bloodless campaign against illegal drugs in the country.
In his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Chief Executive said the government’s anti-drug drive has so far resulted in the seizure of PHP44 billion worth of illegal drugs in more than 71,500 operations.
“Our bloodless war on dangerous drugs adheres and will continue to adhere, to the established ‘8 Es’ of an effective anti-illegal drugs strategy. Extermination was never one of them,” Marcos said.
He also said more than 97,000 drug suspects have been arrested.
Of those arrested, more than 6,000 were high-value targets. About 440 arrested drug personalities were government employees, 42 were uniformed personnel, and 77 were elected officials, Marcos said.
“To further paralyze their operations, dirty money and assets worth more than PHP500 million have been frozen and preserved. With strong case build-up and efficient prosecution, the drug conviction rate is at a high 79 percent,” he said, adding that the number of drug-affected barangays in the country has been reduced by 32 percent.
Peace and order
The President also said that “lessons from history and current events” taught Filipinos that peace and order is an essential ingredient of genuine prosperity and social development.
“Despite difficulties, despite our diversity and differences as a people, we are joined together by a unique history, and have constantly invested our energies and resources in strengthening the pillars of peace,” he said.
Marcos said law enforcement bodies, such as the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Philippine Coast Guard, undergo continuous capacity-building and asset upgrading to preserve the peace and defend the country’s territory.
“We have noted an overall decrease in crime rate and an improvement in crime solution efficiency. But this is not enough. Our law enforcers need to earn the trust of our people,” he said.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. also touted the success of the Marcos administration’s anti-drug campaign.
“Yung mga dapat mahuli (Those who must be caught), we go against the big ones (high-value targets). Yun ang ginagawa ng PNP, PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). But higit sa lahat, dapat may rehabilitation (That is what the PNP, PDEA, and NBI are doing. But more than anything else, we also push for rehabilitation),” Abalos said.
Source: PNA
