PNP says war against drugs has high approval rating

October 25, 2019

The Philippine National Police ( PNP) on Friday said they will continue their “war against illegal drugs” after Vice President Leni Robredo called it a failure.

In a press briefing, Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson said their operations against illegal drug are successful.

“We have 82 percent approval satisfaction from the public and that will be our basis to continue on our campaign against illegal drugs,” Banac said.

Banac said this campaign is part of their mandate and will continue.

“The Philippine National Police has a mandate to implement the law against illegal drugs and we will continue on our campaign because this is our mandate for the people,” he said.

Robredo, in an interview, urged President Rodrigo Duterte to stop his campaign on illegal drugs.

“We ask ourselves, 'why is this still happening?'. The president has already made very serious threats to drug syndicates, to drug lords ... and yet it's still very prevalent, so obviously, it's not working," she said.

She said Duterte should allow international organizations to investigate killings during police operations.

"We have seen a lot of police that have abused their powers and not been penalized. So this is where the International Criminal Court (ICC) could come in if we do not show the world that we can take care of our own mess,” said Robredo.

Based on government data, deaths during anti-illegal drug operations were 5,526 lower than the 7,000 death recorded by other human right organizations. Ella Dionisio/DMS