FORMER PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs was a “catastrophic failure” and it corrupted the Philippine National Police (PNP), promoted impunity, and led to widespread human rights abuses, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said on Tuesday.
“While I supported the anti-drug campaign of the previous administration as a necessary response to a growing crisis, it is now undeniable that it became a catastrophic failure,” Barbers said in a news release.
“Instead of upholding justice, it opened the floodgates to corruption in the PNP, fostered a culture of impunity that left thousands of innocent lives destroyed, and even allowed recycled drugs to poison our streets again,” he added.
Barbers, head of the House of the Representatives Committee on Dangerous Drugs and lead chair of the quad committee (quadcom), said the indictment of 30 police officers, including two generals, over a fabricated drug haul in 2022 is “indisputable proof” of the systemic abuse fostered by Duterte’s policies.
“This only confirms what we in the quadcom have uncovered -- the Duterte administration’s reward system turned law enforcement into a criminal enterprise. It prioritized kill statistics and inflated accomplishments over genuine reform and public safety,” he said.
Barbers said he fully supports Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s order to probe past PNP drug operations, calling it a long-overdue reckoning.
Remulla previously described the fabricated drug haul as part of a broader conspiracy to conceal criminal activities within the PNP.
Testimonies from witnesses, including retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma, revealed that Duterte’s administration offered cash rewards for drug suspects killed, arrests made, and drugs seized.
“This reward system didn’t just encourage shortcuts, it bred criminal enterprises within the very institution tasked with upholding the law,” Barbers said.
“Officers fabricated evidence, inflated statistics, and exploited the system for personal profit, while those who should have been held accountable were shielded,” he added.
The lawmaker said all those responsible for the damage caused by the Duterte administration’s policies must be held accountable.
He also called for comprehensive reforms to dismantle what he described as a “culture of impunity” within the PNP, implement stricter transparency mechanisms in police operations, and harsher penalties for extrajudicial killings.
“These reforms are not negotiable. We need to hold people accountable and prevent these atrocities from happening again. The days of unchecked abuse and corruption must end,” Barbers said.
Barbers said the indictment of the 30 officers involved in the Manila drug haul must mark the beginning of a broader effort to hold perpetrators accountable.
“This investigation is a critical moment for the country. It’s a chance to show that no one, not even the most powerful, is above the law. We must act decisively to deliver justice and restore public confidence,” he said. (Jose Cielito Reganit)
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