Dwayne Pelagio

The Department of Interior and Local Government announced on Nov. 12 that the Marcos administration is changing its drug war strategy by “going heavy” after its narcotics supply rather than those who use it. 

Photo Courtesy of AFP.

“For the longest time, we have been concentrating on the consumption side, arresting them on street levels, arresting them on crimes they committed on a buy bust,” Remulla said in a Palace briefing following the Malacanang meeting between President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and the leadership of the DILG, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The DILG chief announced that they are “going heavy” on the supply side, going against the “big guns” or the big suppliers involved in the implementation of drugs.

He added that while ongoing drug operations yielded record seizures of illegal drugs, there was a need to focus on addressing the entry of narcotics in the country.

“Kasi pataas nang pataas ang seizures on the ground, pero puro maliliit, puro 1 kilogram, 2 kilograms, so obviously there’s something wrong kung puro ganon lang ang nahuhuli,” Remulla said in the Palace briefing.

The Interior secretary stressed that the drug trade is more sophisticated now as they use cryptocurrency to hide their proceeds.

He also revealed in the Palace briefing the new strategy that would involve stronger coordination with anti-drug agencies from other countries to be able to intercept drugs being brought into the country.

“The number one control point that has to be addressed is the Manila International Container Point Subic and Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation Industrial Authority (PHIVIDEC) in Cagayan. They seem to be the main transit point in drugs now,” Remulla stated in the Palace briefing.

Remulla cited that there 10,000 containers a day which pass through the port and opening them up one by one will “paralyze” the entire economy of the country.

Marcos stated in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that it will continue its bloodless war on dangerous drugs and will implement an effective anti-illegal drugs strategy.

The past Duterte administration’s drug war with its alleged extrajudicial killings have been the subject of hearings at the House and Senate with the former president and his alias stating that a violent approach was necessary.