Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has directed the police to intensify operations against small-time drug dealers, raising concerns about a revival of the bloody anti-drug campaign of the previous Rodrigo Duterte administration.
Marcos has consistently claimed that his government’s anti-drug advocacy is more effective by focusing on high-profile drug syndicates instead of mobilizing the police to aggressively hunt drug suspects in communities. During Duterte’s term, thousands were killed in police operations, which became the basis for filing a case against the former president in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Duterte was arrested in March this year and is now at The Hague under the custody of the ICC, where he is facing charges of crimes against humanity.
In a podcast released last month, Marcos said his government’s focus will be shifted back to the streets after admitting that drug criminals are still active in communities. “We did not pay attention to those on the ground,” he said. “They are slowly returning because I said our operations should go for huge seizures and we really caught drug lords.”
He didn’t provide crime statistics, but he noted that the midterm election results reflected the public clamor for safety and the need for authorities to be “tougher” on criminals. The administration coalition dominated the local and national elections, but several Duterte-backed candidates also managed to secure key electoral victories.
Marcos reiterated the new approach during the turnover ceremonies for the country’s new police chief. In response, the newly-appointed police chief ordered all units to apprehend violators “from big-time drug lords to street-level peddlers.” His marching order was to “remove criminals in the community and in the streets.” He added that the number of drug-related arrests will be part of a new performance metric for the police.
But the police chief reminded his troops that he would “not condone wanton killings or wanton murders” and that operations should be done “through lawful and ethical means.” He insisted that suspects should be brought to trial to deliver justice.
“Deliver excellence in your police work, file affidavits, execute warrants, bring criminals to justice, raise your hands in front of judges and fiscals and provide evidence against these criminals to support their conviction. And you will be recognized and rewarded,” the police chief said.
The Commission on Human Rights welcomed the commitment of the new police leadership to uphold due process, but it also pointed out the danger of dangling rewards for drug-related arrests.
“Highlighting number of arrests as a performance metric may unintentionally pressure officers to prioritize quantity over quality,” it said in a statement. It alluded to what happened during Duterte’s term when a quota system was linked to bounties handed out to police operations. “Historically, such frameworks have risked incentivizing shortcuts, abusive, or arbitrary practices, which undermine human rights and erode public trust in law enforcement,” it said.
In an editorial, the Inquirer acknowledged the concern to improve public safety but cautioned against law enforcers abusing their mandate. “In the absence of robust legal safeguards and institutional restraint, even the well-intentioned can fall into the same kill-or-be-killed trap that turned communities into graveyards under Duterte,” it wrote.
Human rights advocates are worried that intensified police presence in barangays (villages) could lead to more violence as they repudiated the claim that the so-called Marcosian model in dealing with illegal drugs has been “bloodless” over the past three years. They cited a university research that recorded 501 cases of drug-related killings in the first 18 months of the Marcos administration.
It is revealing that Marcos refocused the anti-drug campaign after the underwhelming electoral performance of the administration coalition in the recently concluded midterm polls. His supporters could spin it as proof that he is sensitive to public sentiment, but mimicking Duterte’s narrative of making the streets safer could also reflect a desperate attempt to win over constituents and prevent a rival political dynasty from making a comeback in the 2028 elections.
https://thediplomat.com/2025/06/philippine-president-wants-police-to-target-small-time-drug-dealers/
