PNP chief: 65,000 drug pushers, users have surrendered since crackdown

More than 65,000 drug users and pushers nationwide have surrendered to authorities since President Rodrigo Duterte launched an intensified anti-drug campaign, PNP chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa

The figure was as of Friday morning, Dela Rosa said in an interview with Rappler.

"We were surprised by the sudden influx of surrenderees. We didn't expect...Ganun na pala kalala ang problema natin sa droga," he said.

Malacañang welcomed the development, saying the voluntary surrender of "self-confessed users and pushers reaffirms our people’s renewed faith and trust in authorities."

"In his resolute campaign against drugs, the President has even made it possible to unite the populace in combatting the illegal drug trade," said Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar in a statement.

Andanar said the government has to seize the momentum without resorting to extra-judicial methods of anti-criminality operations.

“Government is against any form of extra judicial killings. We do not condone these acts. Government is here to save our people from the drug menace and punish the offenders, including the big-time ones. The PNP continues to investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are reported,” he added.

While the campaign against drugs "is far from perfect," Andanar noted a generation of Filipinos have been saved from it.

"Many communities are now relatively drug-free with record-high number of people giving up to authorities, choosing quieter and healthier lives,” Andanar said.

The Palace official said plans to build rehabilitation centers nationwide are also being undertaken.

In Central Luzon, police authorities are eyeing Subic and Clark to house drug-dependents.

The provincial governments of Sultan Kudarat and Quezon are planning to give a parcel of their land for drug rehabilitation centers, according to the Department of Interior and Local Government. —Virgil Lopez/NB, GMA News