Marcos cites significant changes in PH war on drugs

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. (L) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. | PHOTO: Official facebook page of Bongbong Marcos

BERLIN  – The anti-narcotics campaign of the Philippines has “changed significantly” as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. maintained that he was “diametrically opposed” to the use of violence in confronting the menace of illegal drugs.

The President made the remarks in his tete-a-tete with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at The Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt) on Tuesday, in which Marcos touted the changes that the government adopted in its fight against illegal drugs.

Scholz asked Marcos about his approach to the illegal drugs problem vis-a-vis the approach adopted by former President Rodrigo Duterte – Oplan Tokhang, which was heavily criticized for its high death toll.

Marcos informed Scholz that although the proliferation of illegal drugs “remains a problem,” the approach to handling drug dependents has “changed significantly.”

“It’s a big problem, but our approach has changed significantly. I diametrically opposed to handling the drug problem in that way, by confrontation, by violence. It really requires so much deeper understanding of the problem and a much deeper solution. So, yes, I think that we are also progressing when it comes to that,” said Marcos.

He added that among the reforms they initiated was the reorganization of key officials of the Philippine National Police to weed out some police officials involved in “some of the more nefarious practices” during the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.

“We are starting to move them out, and some of them have already been tried and convicted, now in jail and serving their time. It’s a difficult problem because it’s the money involved is so much, that it’s hard for the government to compete with the kind of money that’s been thrown around by the drug lords,” the President said.

Marcos made the remarks amid Duterte’s recent criticisms against the President’s frequent foreign trips and the Charter change being pushed by his allies in Congress.

In a rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila earlier this week, the former president claimed that moves to amend the 1987 Constitution were aimed at extending term limits of elected officials and that this was similar to what former president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. did.