Crime rate in the Philippines spiked due to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs campaign during his term, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.
The House Quad Committee Chairman said that in response to Duterte’s claim that his campaign against illegal drugs significantly lowered crime rates in the country, during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday, October 28. Compared to the current Administration’s data, the Philippine National Police (PNP) found that the nationwide index crime dropped to 83,059 since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in 2022.
The nationwide index crime rate cited that Duterte’s first two years of Presidency from 2016 to 2018, reached 217,830 of the said crimes.
Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez said that Duterte’s statement does not align with the official data provided by the PNP. Adding that the former President’s brutal drug war caused more crimes to ensue in the country. The data also indicated that most of the victims came from low-income families and communities.
“Nabudol na naman tayo. Malinaw na mas mababa ang krimen ngayon kumpara noong panahon ng dating Administrasyon,” Fernandez said.
Moreover, Barbers said that Marcos’ bloodless campaign against illegal drugs resulted in seizures of the illegal substances, in comparison with the War on Drugs. He also emphasized the current Administration’s goal to rehabilitate the drug suspects, instead of “neutralizing” them.
During the Senate sub-committee hearing, Duterte said that he would be taking full responsibility for police actions during the war on drugs campaign. However, the former President also insisted that he pushed for the campaign to safeguard the people and his country from the increasing crime rates in the country.
