War on drugs led to more crime, panel chiefs say

THE war on drugs, with its extrajudicial killings during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, led to more crimes, leaders of the House quad committee said, disputing his assertion that crime was on the rise under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Quad committee co-chairman and Sta. Rosa Rep. Danilo Fernandez said data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) belied the former president’s claim.

The PNP, added Fernandez, noted that index crimes from July 1, 2022 to July 28, 2024 dropped by nearly 62 percent to 83,059 compared to 217,830 during the first two years of Duterte’s term as president.

Cases of murder, homicide, physical injuries and rape decreased by 55.69 percent, while the number of cases of robbery, theft, car theft and other crimes against property fell by 66.81 to 41,420 from 124,799 during the same comparative periods, Fernandez said.

Fernandez also noted that crime clearance efficiency increased by 27.13 percent while the crime solution efficiency rate rose by 10.28 percent.

“We were duped [by the former administration],” Fernandez said.

Quad committee lead chairman and Surigao del Sur Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the PNP reported drug seizures worth P35.6 billion and arrested 122,309 drug suspects.

Both men agreed that the campaign of the Marcos administration against illegal drugs, unlike his predecessor, was comparatively bloodless.

“The present national leadership values and respects the sanctity of life,” Barbers added.

Fernandez said the anti-drug war of the current administration is not likely to elicit anger, resentment and a desire for revenge on the part of the people as “it focuses on apprehending suspects and rehabilitating them, instead of ‘neutralizing’ them.”

Barbers believed that the war on drugs by the former president gave rise to more crimes instead of lessening them, as families of the victims may exact revenge against those who committed it.

Meanwhile, Barbers said they would take note of the former president’s testimony at the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee and confirm them once he testifies before the House panel.

He said they would send invitations to everyone, including the former president, for the next panel hearing on Nov. 7.

Barbers also said they would also ask Duterte to control the use of foul language when he testifies before the panel, but he said he could not say if he would cite the former president for contempt if he has a back-and-forth discussion as he did with Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who called him out for using expletives at the Senate.

“We will cross the bridge when we get there,” Barbers said. “Like we said, if we invite him, we will afford him all the courtesy that is due him.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos defended Duterte’s war on drugs, saying it was necessary at the time, as the drug menace had already corrupted some members of the judiciary, the military establishment and the police force.

The senator said in a “PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia” interview that young children and women in her province, Ilocos Norte, were tapped by drug syndicates to sell drugs.

Marcos said that she witnessed the ill effects of illegal drugs when she was Ilocos Norte governor. She also observed that some judges and generals denied the proliferation of drugs in the province.

“I’m so helpless and angry, and I felt like I was being gaslighted by [concerned] officials in Manila, who said it was not happening. The generals said everything’s okay,'” she said in Filipino and English.

“What do you mean, it’s OK? We had a high teenage suicide rate due to [use of] drugs. They were children of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). Notwithstanding my gratitude and friendship with President Duterte, the war on drugs was really necessary,” Marcos stressed.

“So, I felt that drastic measures needed to be put in place. But I’m not saying I agree with all that happened [during the drug war], like killings. I was not aware of what happened in other areas,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa said Dutere “was only joking” when he admitted under oath before the Senate that he had his own death squad when he was mayor of Davao City.

Dela Rosa, who oversaw Duterte’s bloody war on drugs as his PNP chief, said the term “DDS” was a media creation and that he never found evidence of it operating in the city when he was Davao City police chief.