Drug war success measured by drugs removed from streets – solon

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers from the House of Representatives have heaped praise on the current administration’s drug war, saying that the measurement for its success should be the number of drugs eradicated from the streets.

Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said that for a drug war, what should be of paramount importance is keeping the youth from being able to access illegal drugs.

“Para sa akin kasi, ang parameters to measure the success of this anti-illegal drug programs ay ‘yung taking away the illegal or illicit drugs from the streets,” Barbers said in a previous press briefing last Wednesday.

“Pag ka ikaw ay nakakuha ng tone-toneladang droga outside of the reach of the dependents, the youth and others, eh hindi ba successful iyon?” added Barbers, who is also House committee on dangerous drugs chairperson.

The lawmaker was referring to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s report during his 2024 State of the Nation Address (Sona) where he revealed that more than 97,000 drug suspects have been arrested, including 6,000 high-value targets, further broken down into 440 government employees, 42 uniformed personnel, and 77 elected officials.

The Marcos administration’s style has been compared to the war against illegal drugs of former President Rodrigo Duterte, which has been criticized for being too bloody. Currently, a House panel is investigating alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the past administration’s drug war.

According to Barbers, the important thing is that the current administration has never adopted a policy of killing drug suspects unless there is an imminent danger.

“What is important is that it was really never a policy of this administration to exterminate and yet because of that policy we have produced quite a large achievement as far as taking out drugs from the streets,” he said.

“P44 billion worth ng droga ang tinanggal sa kalsada sa loob lamang ng dalawang taon. So napakalaking achievement iyan,” he added.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez agreed with Barbers, noting that stopping illegal drugs without using excessive force would press the need for more police officers on the ground.

“I think that would emphasize why we need more police in the street, to specifically combat the proliferation of illegal drugs and I truly applaud the efforts being conducted by the present administration in combating drugs within the bounds of law,” Suarez said.

“Nakita naman natin sa kanyang Sona, indeed challenging but he’s confronting it, he is addressing it and he’s addressing it legally,” he added.

Duterte and his then police chief Senator Ronald dela Rosa were invited to the House committee on human rights hearing regarding the alleged EJKs, but both refused to attend. According to committee chair and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., it was regrettable that the two did not make the most of a chance to address issues in the drug war.

Dela Rosa as Philippine National Police chief implemented Oplan Tokhang, a portmanteau of Visayan words ‘toktok’ or to knock, and ‘hangyo’ or to plead.

While the program was initially hailed for facilitating the surrender of people involved in the illegal drug trade, Oplan Tokhang quickly gained notoriety as it was linked to killings either through numerous drug operations or vigilante-style executions.

Several rights groups believe rights violations existed in the drug war, prompting them to file complaints against Duterte and dela Rosa before the International Criminal Court for the crime against humanity of mass murder.

Duterte and his allies have maintained that they are not behind the EJKs in the drug war, with the former president noting on one occasion that warring drug gangs are behind the killings.

READ: ‘Discreet’ probe shows warring drug gangs behind EJKs – President 

Marcos’ drug war on the other hand has led to a successful yield without killings. Last April 16, the President touted the authorities’ seizure of over one ton of shabu during a checkpoint in Alitagtag, Batangas, stressing that the operations were done without anyone being killed or shot. With reports from Ysabel Escalona, INQUIRER.net trainee