At least 1.6 million Filipinos are slaves to shabu – Duterte

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday claimed that there are at least 1.6 million Filipino illegal drug users in the country who spend billions of pesos on shabu every year.

"There are at least 1.6 (million) drug users and addicts, validated na. One hit daily would cost P200 or P6,000 a month,"  Duterte said during his speech at a PDP-Laban rally in Cagayan de Oro.

The president added that this was a conservative number as the statistic only covered Senate candidate Ronald "Bato" Del Rosa's tenure as Philippine National Police chief, and was limited to Metro Manila alone.

"Tell me if you are happy, if I tell you now that we have 1.6 million slaves, Filipino slaves to a drug called shabu," Duterte asked.

The president lamented that the billions of pesos spent on drugs could have been used for food and education of Filipino families.

Since Duterte took office in 2016, over 5,000 drug suspects had been killed in the government's intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

Local and international critics have characterized the campaign as a "bloody drug war," which put civil liberties in danger. — Dona Magsino/DVM, GMA News