A total of 177 police officers in Metro Manila have been charged with drug-related offenses, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, January 9.

In a video message, the President said that officers who were involved in planting evidence, unlawful arrests, and excessive violence were included in the said number of cases.

"Alam naman natin na kung minsan, nadadala ang ating mga opisyal at siyempre hindi natin maaaring pabayaan 'yan. Kaya't ang nangyari, 177 police officers have been charged with drug-related offenses, including the planting of evidence, unlawful arrest, and excessive violence dito pa lang sa NCR," Marcos said.

Of the 151,818 court cases filed by the DOJ in 2022, Marcos said that at least 121,582 have been jailed.

Meanwhile, according to Marcos, the figures not only demonstrate the administration's progress in the war on drugs, but they also show encouraging developments.

"Para sa amin hindi lang 'to sa mga magagandang numero kung hindi ay talagang magiging improvement. Pinaganda talaga natin ang komunidad natin, pinapaganda talaga natin ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan, at iniiwas natin ang mga kabataan natin diyan sa pagpasok sa lifestyle ng drug-taking," the Executive Chief highlighted.

On Thursday, January 4, the Presidential Communications Office said, citing the Philippine National Police's (PNP) record, that a total of 27,968 barangays were cleared of illegal drugs during the Marcos administration.

Around P10.41 billion worth of illegal drugs were seized from January to December 2023.

Aside from confiscating large volumes of illegal drugs, the PNP earlier said it had arrested 56,495 drug suspects after conducting more than 44,000 anti-illegal drug operations.