The previous administration of Rodrigo Duterte focused on terminating with extreme prejudice thousands of street-level drug traffickers and users but left the big-time drug lords scot-free.
The result: more than 6,000 officially declared dead by the Philippine National Police after they allegedly fought back (“nanlaban”) during police anti-drug operations from 2016 to mid-2022.
But this figure is disputed by human rights groups here and abroad who claim between 20,000 and 30,000 were actually killed by the police and vigilante groups during the period.
Now, the PNP has declared a radical departure from Duterte’s ‘kill, kill, kill” order with a recalibrated approach in its anti-illegal drugs strategy that targets the sources and supply chains of illegal drugs instead of street-level pushers and users.
According to PNP Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, they will now run after high-value drug personalities and the movement of illegal drugs across the country.
“These are the real targets—those who orchestrate the trade and profit from it, not the street-level pushers and users, who are often victims of circumstance,” he pointed out.
The recalibrated approach is designed to be a “more effective and less bloody campaign” by putting more value on human rights and addressing the drug problem at its very core.
What it entails will be intensified intelligence operations and stronger community engagement to identify and dismantle drug trafficking networks.
Hence, the PNP Chief seeks to address the drug problem without resorting to bloodshed. “By focusing on the real culprits and protecting the victims, we can make our communities safer while respecting human rights,” he emphasized.
The drug problem, according to the PNP, is a “complex issue” that resembles the Hydra, a mythical creature that grows more heads if one is cut off.
Previous strategies concentrated too much on cutting off the heads, but what is needed is to target the body— the entire supply chain and the sources driving the drug trade.
President Marcos Jr. has repeatedly said he is opposed to the use of violence to curtail the illegal drug trade.
In fact, in his third State of the Nation Address in July, the Chief Executive said his administration had made big inroads in combating illegal drugs without using violence as much as his predecessor did.
He said his administration’s anti-drugs drive had been relatively “bloodless,” resulting in the seizure of P44 billion worth of illegal drugs and the arrest of more than 97,000 drug personalities in more than 71,500 police operations.
While human rights groups insist that there are still killings of suspects in police anti-drug operations, these are not taking place on the same scale as those in the previous administration.
