PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has commended the Philippine National Police (PNP), headed by General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, for making strides in reducing crime volume in the country while ensuring that its war on drugs will be ‘bloodless and humane.’

The Commander-in-Chief emphasized that the PNP’s crackdown on illegal drugs, smuggling, illegal gambling, private armed groups, human trafficking and criminality “has also strengthened significantly in ways that are not only effective but legal and lawful.”

President Marcos also noted that the PNP’s intensified patrol operations and increased police deployment has contributed to a notable drop in crime rates.

He urged all police personnel to support the leadership of the PNP. “I trust that you will sustain your current initiatives and take care of the people’s increasing confidence in the PNP’s abilities,” he said.

Gen. Marbil said they have noted major reduction in cases of rape, car theft and robbery incidents in the country as the overall crime volume went down over a 12-month period. He also revealed that a total of P36.5 billion worth of illegal drugs have been seized from July 1, 2022 to July 31, 2024, including the P9.68 billion worth of shabu intercepted at a checkpoint in Aligtagtag, Batangas early this year.

Described as “the largest haul in history and the highest recorded seized illegal drugs,” police operations related to the Alitagtag drug haul has resulted in the arrest of a Canadian national and a Filipino-American.

The PNP chief said that they have also provided adequate frontline services to the community with the deployment of 85 percent of their personnel to active field duties and 15 percent to administrative functions.

This setup, Gen. Marbil explained, has ensured a robust police visibility through both foot and mobile patrols, as well as prompt responses to calls for help.

Gen. Marbil earlier said that their ‘bloodless war on drugs’ will continue with more focus on rehabilitating users apart from dismantling the operations of drug syndicates.

The Commander-in-Chief said that “extermination” has never been a part of his administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, stressing that the drive will remain “bloodless.”

He added that in more than 71,500 drug operations, more than P44 billion worth of illegal drugs had been confiscated.

Authorities also arrested over 97,000 drug personalities, including 6,000 high-value targets, 440 government employees, 42 uniformed personnel and 77 elected officials, he added.

The latest numbers of the national anti-drug campaign from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024 released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency headed by Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo said that a total of P45.68 billion worth of shabu, cocaine, Ecstasy and marijuana have been confiscated by government agents during the period.

They include nearly 5.946 tons of shabu, around 75 kilos of cocaine, more than 105,000 pieces of Ecstasy and over 5 tons of cannabis.

Also arrested during the period were 101,757 drug personalities.

The arrests and seizures were made as a result of 74,832 anti-drug operations conducted during the period which also saw the dismantling of 1 clandestine shabu laboratory and 1,053 secret drug dens.

Gen. Marbil said that they remained focus in “not only removing drugs from our streets but also on rehabilitating users and dismantling the operations of drug syndicates.”