Marcos orders PNP, PCG to combat recycling of confiscated drugs

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Screengrab from Bongbong Marcos/Facebook

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to ensure confiscated illegal drugs do not find their way back into the market.

The President made this statement during Part 2 of the BBM Podcast Episode 2, when asked about his marching orders to newly appointed PNP Chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III.

READ: Torre unveils plans for PNP: 3-minute emergency response, tech upgrades

“I told the Coast Guard and the PNP to keep a close watch because I don’t want those drugs ending up back in the market. Destroy them immediately—as quickly as possible—and make sure you’re present during the process so that when they say ‘so many tons,’ that’s exactly how many tons are actually there, with nothing missing,” Marcos said in Filipino.

Marcos and Torre met on Monday to discuss measures for strengthening police visibility, especially with the start of School Year 2025–2026.

READ: Marcos reveals getting false accomplishment reports of gov’t projects

In the podcast, Marcos told the public that “it’s not sufficient that you are safe; you must feel safe.”

This initiative was also highlighted by the top cop in a press conference at Camp Crame, Quezon City, on June 2, where he proposed deactivating police community precincts in favor of roving patrols as part of the agency’s visibility drive.

“Rather than stay in a police box, I would rather have the police walk their beat… If they want to rest for a bit, they can go to a convenience store and buy themselves a drink,” Torre said./jpv/abc