Manila: Lawmakers lauded on Wednesday the Marcos administration's shift in anti-drug policy, with focus on apprehending and rehabilitating drug suspects rather than 'neutralizing' them. In a news release, House quad committee lead chair Robert Ace Barbers and co-chair Dan Fernandez said the current administration's campaign against illegal drugs is "bloodless," a deviation from former president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs. Barbers said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s anti-drug campaign shifted its focus to respect human rights and high-impact operations. 'The present national leadership values and respects the sanctity of life,' he said. Barbers particularly cited recent Philippine National Police (PNP) data showing drug seizures worth PHP35.6 billion and the arrest of 122,309 drug suspects under the Marcos administration. Fernandez said the present administration's anti-drug drive centered on the apprehension and rehabilitation of drug suspects. '(It) is not likely to elicit anger, resent ment, and a desire for revenge on the part of our people," Fernandez said. The terms "neutralization" and "negation" of drug suspects were used in a 2016 Philippine National Police (PNP) Command Memorandum Circular that operationalized the drug war of the Duterte administration. Fernandez noted that retired police officers had testified before the House quad committee that the term "neutralize" was interpreted as "killing" drug suspects. He also pointed out that the previous administration's drug war targeted mostly low-level drug users and peddlers and only a few high-value suspects. 'Kaya libo-libo ang napatay, mahigit 20,000, halos lahat users lang na puwedeng ma-rehabilitate. Hindi naman tinamaan 'yung malalaking drug lord (That's why thousands were killed, more than 20,000, and almost all of them were just [drug] users who could have been rehabilitated. The big drug lords weren't even touched),' he said. Barbers said the Duterte administration's approach to the drug problem only intensified crime. 'Ang isang action ay may kasunod na reaction. Kapag pinatay mo ang isang drug suspect, lalo na kung nadamay pa ang inosenteng kamag-anak o civilian, malamang sa hindi, may maghahangad sa pamilya ng namatayan ng paghihiganti (For every action, there is a reaction. When you kill a drug suspect, especially when innocent family members or civilians are affected, it often triggers a desire for revenge),' Barbers said. 'So, wala kang sinosolusyunan na problema, gumagawa ka pa ng bagong problema (So you do not really solve the problem. Instead, you are creating a new one)." Fernandez, meanwhile, refuted the former president's assertion that there are more crimes now than when he was the nation's top leader. "Malinaw na mas mababa ang krimen ngayon kumpara noong panahon ng dating administrasyon (It is clear that crime has decreased now compared to the previous administration),' he said. Citing a PNP report, Fernandez said index crimes from July 1, 2022 to July 28, 2024 dropped to 83,059 from 217,830 during the sam e period in the first two years of Duterte's term from 2016 to 2018, marking a decrease of 61.87 percent. Cases of murder, homicide, physical injuries, and rape decreased by 55.69 percent; while the number of cases of robbery, theft, car theft, and other crimes against property fell by 66.81 percent to 41,420 from 124,799 during the same comparative periods, he said. Crime clearance efficiency increased by 27.13 percent, while the crime solution efficiency rate rose by 10.28 percent, he said, quoting the PNP report. Source: Philippines News Agency