• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday vowed the relentless fight against the illegal drug trade in the country, zeroing in on drug dealers.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28, before a joint session of Congress at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City, Marcos lamented that of the 153,000 arrested drug suspects, 677 of them are government employees.
Of the 677, more than 100 are elected officials, while 50 are police officers.
“Despite these, it seems that drug peddlers are coming back. So, our operations against drug dealers, whether big-time or small-time, will continue,” he added.
Since he assumed office in 2022, he reported that P83 billion worth of illegal drugs have been seized.
Marcos acknowledged the speed at which these accomplishments have been achieved. “Sa tatlong taon lamang, halos mapantayan na ang kabuuang huli noong nakaraang administrasyon (In just three years, the total caught by the previous administration has almost been matched),” he said.*
