Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque confidently declared President Duterte's controversial war on drugs a success, saying all barangays can still be freed from illegal drugs before the President's term ends.
Roque made the statement days before Duterte delivers his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 26.
In his press briefing on Wednesday, July 21, Roque said based on government data, the drug war was a success. His data, however, was last updated on May 31, 2021.
Based on the government's #RealNumbersPH program, the government was able to seize P59.93 billion worth of drugs and equipment as of May 31. It was also able to dismantle 807 dens and clandestine laboratories.
The same data showed that 6,147 persons were killed in 203,715 anti-illegal drug operations.
Government data showed that of the 42,045 barangays in the country, 22,093 were already cleared. The difference between these two figures is 19,952 barangays that are not yet cleared. The government poster shows a figure of only 13,210 barangays "yet to be cleared." Hence, there is a difference of 6,742 barangays that was not accounted for in the government report.
According to Roque, clearing the remaining barangays of illegal drugs was still possible.
"Kampante tayo na may isang taon pa so baka kakayanin naman po 'yan (We are confident that we can still accomplish this because we still have a year left)," he said.
"Pagkatapos ng termino ng Presidente, maaaring ma-achieve po na lahat ng barangay ay maging drug-free (We may have already achieved in making all barangays drug-free by the end of the President's term)," he added.
President Duterte was catapulted to the presidency in 2016 with the promise of getting rid of illegal drugs, criminality, and corruption in just three to six months. According to Roque, Duterte never realized the gravity of the situation until the first few months of his term.
"Sinabi naman po talaga ni Presidente na hindi niya akalain na mas malala ang problema pagdating sa droga noong siya po ay nangangampanya (The President admitted that he never thought during the campaign period that the problem on illegal drugs was much worse)," Roque said.
"Na-realize po niya early on his term na talagang mas malalim at mas malala ang problema kaya nga po mas tumagal ang pagsupil sa iligal na droga (He realized early on his term that the problem was deeply-rooted that's why getting rid of drugs was taking so long)," he added.
Early this week, Roque disagreed with some analysts that the drug war will be Duterte's "single most-enduring" program and that his administration will be remembered for human rights violations. He called the drug war a "true legacy."
"Rather than a legacy of notoriety, I think it will be a true legacy of the President," he said.
"Tinutoo niya ang pangako niya na mananalo tayo dito sa giyera laban sa pinagbabawal na droga (He fulfilled his promise that we will win in this war against illegal drugs)," he added.