Ex-Pres. Duterte not keen on becoming anti-drug czar

Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday thumbed down calls for him to become an anti-drug czar under the current administration, saying it is now the duty of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to address the illegal drug problem in the country.

“Mukhang hindi na rin tama [it doesn't seem right anymore], Pastor, because there is the President duly elected and it is his duty to enforce the law and solve crimes,” Duterte told Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in an interview on SMNI.

Duterte, who has been facing an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation because of his bloody war on drugs during his term as president, was asked if he would consider the idea of possibly working for the Marcos administration as an anti-drug czar.

He stressed that addressing the drug issue is a “matter of leadership,” therefore Marcos should be given the leeway to do so in a year.

“Let us give Marcos the greatest elbow room leeway to do his job in just one year. And in fairness do’n sa mga pulis, 'yan ang problema [to the police, that’s the problem]. The last time I said it, it's a matter of leadership,” the former president said.

It was Senator Bong Go, during a Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on the P6.7 billion shabu haul in Manila on May 23, who floated the idea and asked Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Benjamin Acorda if he thought Duterte would be helpful if ever he would take such a post.

In response, Acorda said he would support any step that would help in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, meanwhile, also backed the call, saying it will bring back fear to policemen and criminal syndicates involved in the illegal drug trade.

Dela Rosa served as a chief PNP during the Duterte administration.

In March, the ICC's Appeals Chamber rejected the Philippine government's bid for the suspension of the ICC prosecutor's investigation into the killings in the war on drugs.

With this, Marcos said the Philippines is disengaging from the ICC.

However, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra in April said the Philippines will still pursue its appeal questioning the ICC’s  jurisdiction and authority to investigate killings during Duterte’s drug war.

Government records showed that at least 6,000 drug suspects were killed in police operations from June 2016 until November 2021. Several human rights groups, on the other hand, claimed the actual death toll may be up to 30,000. —KBK, GMA Integrated News