In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella cited the gains of the current government, which declared an all out war against narcotics. "With all due respect to former President Aquino, the results  of PRRD's (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) anti-illegal drug campaign speak for themselves," he said. "Much ground has been gained in the campaign against hard drug traffickers and violators, but the mission is to end the demand, production, distribution and sale of illegal drugs," Abella stressed. The Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign resulted in the "unprecedented voluntary surrender" of more than 1.3 million drug personalities, he said. Many self-confessed drug users and pushers gave in to authorities amid the increasing number of slain individuals who were allegedly involved in illegal drugs Abella also cited the 96,703 drug personalities who have been arrested in the first year of the present government compared to 77,810 drug personalities apprehended in the six years of the previous administration. As to the confiscated illegal drugs, he said that during the first year of the Duterte government, 2,445.80 kilos of shabu was seized compared to the 3,219.07 kilos in the six years of the Aquino government. In a news report, Aquino said from 1.7 million drug users when he assumed office in 2010, the number went down to 1.3 million during his mid-term before it rose to 1.8 million before he stepped down. During the first six months of the Duterte administration, there was no apparent change in the number of drug users, he noted as he said, "it seems that nothing happened." "Comments like the above from past leaders imply a jaded cynicism borne of a history of political opportunism," Abella said. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo slammed Aquino for his statement against the Duterte administration's campaign against illegal drugs. "PNoy’s comment on the President Duterte's war on drugs as being ineffective is shamelessly cocky and  an outrageous chutzpah. The criticism comes from someone under whose watch the drug menace proliferated in unsurpassed magnitude due to the previous administration's either gross incompetence in curbing it or criminal neglect in stopping its spread," he said in a separate statement. "It has to take a President unschooled in refined hypocrisy and unscarred in corruption to lay the foundation for its dismantling to save a generation from addiction and cleanse the country from its lethal consequences," he stressed. Panelo reiterated that the war on drugs by the President shall continue until the "last bastion of the drug syndicate is destroyed pursuant to his constitutional duty to serve and protect the people." (Celerina Monte/DMS)