Manila: Lawmakers lauded on Wednesday the Marcos administration’s shift in anti-drug policy, with focus on apprehending and rehabilitating drug suspects rather than ‘neutralizing’ them. In a news release, House quad committee lead chair Robert Ace Barbers and co-chair Dan Fernandez said the current administration’s campaign against illegal drugs is “bloodless,” a deviation from former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
According to Philippines News Agency, Barbers emphasized that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s anti-drug campaign shifted its focus to respect human rights and high-impact operations. “The present national leadership values and respects the sanctity of life,” he stated. Barbers particularly cited recent Philippine National Police (PNP) data showing drug seizures worth PHP35.6 billion and the arrest of 122,309 drug suspects under the Marcos administration.
Fernandez highlighted that the present administration’s anti-drug drive centered on the apprehension and rehabilitation of
drug suspects. He noted that this approach is less likely to provoke anger and resentment among the populace. The terms “neutralization” and “negation” of drug suspects were used in a 2016 Philippine National Police (PNP) Command Memorandum Circular that operationalized Duterte’s drug war.
Fernandez noted that retired police officers had testified before the House quad committee that the term “neutralize” was interpreted as “killing” drug suspects. He also pointed out that the previous administration’s drug war targeted mostly low-level drug users and peddlers, while few high-value suspects were apprehended. “That’s why thousands were killed, more than 20,000, and almost all of them were just [drug] users who could have been rehabilitated. The big drug lords weren’t even touched,” he said.
Barbers criticized the Duterte administration’s approach, saying it intensified crime. “For every action, there is a reaction. When you kill a drug suspect, especially when innocent family members or civilians are affecte
d, it often triggers a desire for revenge,” Barbers stated. “So, you do not really solve the problem. Instead, you are creating a new one.”
Fernandez refuted the former president’s assertion that there are more crimes now than when he was the nation’s top leader. “It is clear that crime has decreased now compared to the previous administration,” he said. Citing a PNP report, Fernandez mentioned that index crimes from July 1, 2022, to July 28, 2024, dropped to 83,059 from 217,830 during the same period in the first two years of Duterte’s term from 2016 to 2018, marking a decrease of 61.87 percent.
He further reported that cases of murder, homicide, physical injuries, and rape decreased by 55.69 percent. Meanwhile, the number of cases of robbery, theft, car theft, and other crimes against property fell by 66.81 percent to 41,420 from 124,799 during the same comparative periods. Crime clearance efficiency increased by 27.13 percent, while the crime solution efficiency rate rose by 10.28 percent, he said, quoti
ng the PNP report.