EDITORIAL - Continuing the war

Of course the Philippine National Police will continue going after drug offenders, as promised by the new PNP chief, Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. No country has fully eradicated the drug scourge, and the world has never run out of people seeking the illegal substances.

The only question is the way the campaign is carried out. The architect and first implementer of Rodrigo Duterte’s Oplan Tokhang and Double Barrel, now senator Ronald dela Rosa, has openly said his main regret in the bloody campaign is his failure to first carry out a thorough cleansing of the PNP, to prevent police abuses that have bred accusations of extrajudicial killings.

Mind-altering and habit-forming drugs have been around for centuries, with governments launching regular crackdowns against banned substances. But with continuing demand, there is constant supply, with colossal profits because of the risks involved in trafficking illegal items.

Rodrigo Duterte, who promised during his campaign to eliminate the drug scourge within six months of his presidency, conceded six years later that he underestimated the extent of the problem. He urged his successor to continue his campaign, but Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been silent on the issue.

Human rights advocates have called for a holistic approach to the problem, addressing not only the law enforcement aspect but also the demand, which is a social and health problem. The previous administration tried to adopt this approach, but in line with repeated pronouncements from the president, the focus remained on the law enforcement aspect, characterized by overwhelming police response to suspects who purportedly resisted arrest or “nanlaban.”

The brutal campaign drew complaints that prompted the International Criminal Court to launch a preliminary examination of the conduct of the war and the possible indictment of certain Philippine officials for crimes against humanity. Apart from showing the ICC and the world that the country is fully capable of conducting its own probe, the government must show that police abuses are rare exceptions rather than the rule in the continuing campaign against the illegal drug scourge.