Tiffany Geluz

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. declared during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the fight against illegal drugs should remain bloodless and adhere strictly to established principles. 


He emphasized that extermination was never part of the “8 E’s” framework of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Operations through Reinforcement and Education (ADORE).

“Our bloodless war on dangerous drugs adheres, and will continue to adhere, to the established “8 Es” of ADORE,” he said.

This is in contrast to his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose controversial ‘war on drugs’ led to approximately 12,000 deaths, including around 2,500 killings attributed to the Philippine National Police.

However, drug-related killings continued under Marcos at the same level as his predecessor, with 342 recorded drug casualties from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.  

Highlighting significant achievements in his campaign, Marcos mentioned the seizure of over PHP 44 billion worth of illegal drugs, arrest of 97,000 individuals involved in drug activities – 6,000 of whom were high-value, and more than 71,500 operations conducted . 

He also pointed out that among those arrested were 440 government employees, including 42 uniformed personnel and 77 elected officials.