PNP chief Gamboa says Philippines winning drug war

The Philippines is winning the war against illegal drugs, according to the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday.

Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa was asked about the situation of the government's anti-illegal drugs campaign, a week before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Gamboa said police have reduced the number of users of illegal drugs and a huge volume of narcotics has also been confiscated by authorities during operations.

"I would say yes. We have won, as a matter of fact, we have actually reduced the number of users," Gamboa said.

"Now, ang tanong bakit napakaraming halaga pa rin ng shabu nakukumpiska. Well one partially [because of] scarcity of market. They were not able to market this during the COVID-19 situation and second, we have really launched and given enough support to our operating units to pursue high level targets and these are the results now bakit meron tayo nakukumpiska na malakihan at mga bulto-bultong droga," he added.

PNP Directorate for Operations Police Major General Emmanuel Licup said more or less 6.5 tons of shabu was seized since the drug war started last July 1, 2016.

He added that around 217,000 operations have been conducted since the Duterte administration launched its anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Licup also noted that during the time of Gamboa as PNP chief, high value targets have been the focus of operations.

"That's why ang sinasabi po natin, marami po tayong mga huli na malakihan dahil nagconcentrate 'yung mga operatives natin dito sa mga HVTs," Licup said.

Latest data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency indicated that more than 9,000 high value targets have been arrested by authorities. The agency also noted that 5,722 suspected drug individuals have been killed.

Curbing the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country has been one of the priorities of Duterte since he assumed the presidency in 2016.

His drug war has been highly-criticized not just by groups in the Philippines, but also international organizations, as his violent campaign has been linked to alleged extrajudicial killings.

Authorities insist the suspects fought it out with law enforcers. — RSJ, GMA News