The Philippine National Police (PNP) is pushing for a 50-gram minimum confiscated shabu as requisite for capital punishment as it expressed support for President Duterte’s call for Congress to reimpose the death penalty law. 

PNP chief Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa said they could also propose to increase the minimum confiscation to one kilo once Congress starts discussing the passage of the law. 

“On the part of the PNP, our leverage for them is possibly 50 grams and above because when you say 50 grams and above it would entail a lot of work and a lot of surveillance and effort,” said Gamboa. 

“You cannot just pick up somebody or you cannot just apprehend somebody and then confiscate 50 grams. So probably, around 50 to 1 kilo I think that's enough to impose the death penalty,” he added. 

Gamboa explained their support of the death penalty as stemming from arrested drug traffickers admitting they transact business in the Philippines due to the lack of a death penalty law here.

“This is a revelation coming from the different people who were actually apprehended na they find  in a way convenience that's why they do it here in the Philippines because there is no death penalty here that's why the reimposition of death would definitely definitely be a deterrent in our campaign against illegal drugs,” said Gamboa.

The PNP has been at the forefront of Duterte’s drug war, with PNP data revealing there were already more than 5,000 drug personalities killed since 2016. 

The PNP, however, does not release specific data on their operations, including the exact number of suspected drug personalities allegedly killed by vigilante groups.  

The PNP was excluded in the campaign against illegal drugs twice due to allegations of irregularities including the killing of Kian delos Santos in Caloocan City. 

The PNP was also dragged into controversy due to alleged drug war-related corruption following the kidnap-slay of a South Korean business executive at the hands of police anti-narcotics operatives.