WASHINGTON D.C., United States — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday (Friday, Manila time) admitted that there were abuses in the “drug war” launched by his predecessor former President Rodrigo Duterte.
During a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Marcos said Duterte’s drug war “focused very much on enforcement” in which there were “abuses by certain elements in the government.”
“In my view what had happened in the previous administration was that we focused very much on enforcement. And because of that, it could be said that there were abuses by certain elements in the government and that caused some concern in many quarters about the human rights situation in the Philippines,” he said.
He further admitted that the drug problem in the Philippines “lies in enforcement” where enforcers “have been sucked into these terrible systems that have enriched themselves” at the cost of many lives.
With this, he said he ordered the creation of a commission to assess ranking members of the Philippine National Police and asked for the resignation of police officers involved. Marcos said the government has received about 917 resignations.
“I organized a commission and I asked for the resignation of all the policemen, police officers from colonel level up and we have received about 917 resignations. And we are now in the process of looking through the records of these officers to see those have had derogatory comments, those that have evidence against them,” the President said. (Daphne Galvez © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
