The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday said an executive order to be issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. formalizing the government’s anti-drug stance will help legitimize the agency’s operations.
‘The evolving strategies and stable support system from the national government… serve as the guiding light towards aggressive operations anchored on the rule of law and due process,’ PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. explained in a statement on Thursday.
‘For the PNP, the formalization of the government’s strategy will also reinforce the legitimacy of police operations,’ he maintained.
Earlier this week, Marikina Rep. Marcy Teodoro, who sponsored the Dangerous Drugs Board’s 2027 budget at the House of Representatives, said Marcos will issue an executive order enhancing the 2018 Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy by this coming December.
For its part, the PNP touted that law enforcement agencies had confiscated over P122 billion worth of illegal drugs, arrested over 206,000 individuals for drug-related charges and ‘cleared’ over 30,000 barangays from drugs since July 1, 2022.
‘The PNP has started to bounce back from the stigma brought by its role in the illegal drugs campaign in the past, with high trust and satisfaction ratings in the recent survey results,’ Nartatez claimed.
‘Police forces will continue to carry out their mandate within the bounds of law and due process,’ he added.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla previously asserted that the police force’s anti-drug campaign had worked ‘without killing anyone’ and focused more on reducing the supply of illegal drugs apart from the demand