No concrete decision yet from Duterte to return drug war to police, says Roque

November 26, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to decide whether to return the lead role in the war on drugs to the Philippine National Police, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Sunday.

In a radio interview, Roque said during the President's meeting with the families of the victims of Maguindanao massacre last Thursday, he did not have any decision yet.

"When I was there (in the meeting), I heard him (saying) that he was still thinking about it. That's why it's important that I will ask him," he said.

He said when he accompanies the President in his trip on Monday in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, he would clarify the issue with him.

Duterte indicated in his recent speeches that he might return to the police the lead role in conducting the anti-drug operations from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to avoid the narcotics problem from getting worse.

PDEA, which has only about 2,000 agents, has admitted that it lacks people to fully implement the government's war against illegal drugs.

Roque, who is a concurrent presidential adviser on human rights, said he shares the President's view about human rights.

"What the President is doing is right, that is what we call as proper human rights standards. We are not prohibiting the use of force. There should be just necessity and proportionality," he said.

Roque noted that if there was no evidence to prove that the police violated the law, there was "a presumption of regularity" in their operations. Ella Dionisio/DMS