Presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he will continue the war against drugs if he is elected to the position, but it will be more focused on bigger illegal drug traders.
"We could be a narco-country if we do not do something quite effective in the next few years," Marcos said Tuesday night in a one-on-one presidential interview with Boy Abunda.
"Even in the enforcement side, my idea is to make it more focused... i-focus natin doon sa malalaki (dealers) talaga. Kilala naman ng lahat yan eh (Let's focus on the big drug dealers. We all know them)... even a normal person knows who the drug bosses in their community. So 'yun ang itarget natin (Let's target them)," he added.
Marcos said there is a need to continue the current administration's war on drugs "because the problem continues to exist."
But if he continues it, he said, he will not only focus on enforcing the law but will also strengthen the prevention and cure for those addicted to drugs.
Marcos said he will prevent drug addiction by instilling in the minds of the Filipino youth that illegal drugs will only ruin their lives.
In terms of cure, he said he will expand the country's rehabilitation facilities into provincial level and not just regional.
Marcos believed drug addiction is a health and social issue. He also believed engagement in an illegal drug is only a crime if one is selling or distributing it.
"I think that we should treat addicts as patients, as people in need of a cure," he said.
"So we need to give them that help. So we have to put into place the system of rehabilitation. There are many many ways of doing it, plenty of lessons to be learned from other countries, and let us learn from those lessons and apply them what is applicable to the Philippines, let us apply them quickly," he added.