“This is an approach to the war on drugs that is completely different from the one taken by the previous administration.”
It is entirely correct for the Marcos administration to take an approach in its drive against illegal drugs that is completely different from the one taken by the Duterte regime. It’s about time.
Instead of targeting street-level drug pushers and users, which Rodrigo Duterte hated with so much passion he had them shot on sight, the government will now focus on dismantling supply networks and pursuing high-level drug suppliers.
This is a major shift in the country’s approach to combating illegal drugs that will involve close collaboration among the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced the strategic pivot following a high-level meeting convened by President Marcos Jr. at the Palace attended by the heads of the three agencies. The consensus during the meeting was that the government should prioritize going after the big fish.
“For the longest time, we have been concentrating on the consumption side—arresting low-level offenders and conducting buy-bust operations. This time, we are going after the big guns: the major suppliers, the primary figures involved in drug importation. The message is clear—we’re focusing on the top tier of the drug trade,” he explained.
While Remulla did not disclose specific targets, he confirmed that authorities have already identified key figures in the drug supply chain. Will this mean that we can expect results on the coming months? We really hope so, with the big fish exposed, preferably in handcuffs.
Another revelation during the meeting was that drug activities are still being orchestrated from within New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. Intelligence reports suggested that high-profile inmates continue to manage drug operations from inside the facility, with communications regularly intercepted by authorities.
That the number one source of the drug trade is apparently still inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa is alarming. The President himself informed the three officials about the continued presence of high-value inmates in the prison facility of Muntinlupa.
To address this, the government plans to transfer about 200 high-value inmates to a newly designated maximum-security facility elsewhere in the country. The move, intended to cut the access of inmates to outside networks, will involve enhanced technology to monitor and restrict communications with the outside world.
The problem appears systemic, despite increased security and tightened restrictions, according to authorities. Inmates are said to regain access to communication devices almost immediately after sweeps of the premises by jail guards. Changing personnel has not resolved the issue, so a new approach is required, including relocation and restricting accessibility.
The Marcos Jr. administration had early on indicated that it would not continue the bloody war on drugs waged for six years under the Duterte administration that had led to human rights violations. These include extra-judicial killings or summary executions by police operatives that human rights groups insist have reached as many as 30,000 from 2016 to 2022. That number constitutes crimes against humanity that the International Criminal Court is eager to look into.
The perceptible trend toward the growing number of arrests of small-time drug peddlers in various parts of the country was what prompted Marcos to declare war against the big suppliers. If only the small-time drug dealers were being arrested, obviously there’s something wrong with the way law enforcers are addressing the drug problem.
Going after the big players and hauling them to jail is the main responsibility of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) along with the PNP as their enforcers. As the lead anti-drug law enforcement agency, it is responsible for preventing, investigating and combating any dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals within country. The agency is tasked with implementing the penal and regulatory provisions of Republic Act No. 9165 (R.A. 9165), otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. With clear marching orders from the President and the key law enforcement agencies, PDEA should spare no effort to run after the known big-time drug traffickers and bring them to justice.
The administration’s re-calibration of the campaign to curtail the illegal drug trade in the country by focusing on the supply side may be just what the doctor ordered to really stop the drug menace from destroying the lives of Filipinos, especially the youth.
