“From a race on who gets to rack up the most kills to a race on who gets the highest number of arrests? There’s nothing to celebrate about President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr’s policy of a contest in number of arrests in a drug war campaign that does not solve the root causes of the illegal drugs problem in the country. It even aggravates the problem by opening the door to further rights violations against the people, especially the poor.” This is what the group Karapatan stated following the directive of the US-Marcos regime and the statement of Nicolas Torre III, newly appointed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), regarding the campaign against illegal drugs.

Torre previously stated in a press conference on May 2 that a measure of police performance is the number of arrests they make. This was his answer when he was asked how he would fulfill Marcos Jr’s order to go after small-time drug dealers.

“Our metrics include the number of arrests. The more, the better. In the past, as you know, we ensured the rule of law,” Torre said.

“Instead of addressing the root causes of the illegal drug trade in the country, the Marcos administration continues the Duterte regime’s policies and practice of fomenting fear among the general populace and ensuring impunity for state-sanctioned vigilante groups and police operatives who kill drug suspects,” Karapatan second secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule said.

“While the newly installed PNP chief paid lip service to recognizing the rights of arrested people, their planned drug war campaign is a declaration of another open season to arbitrarily arrest persons on mere suspicion of involvement in the illegal drug trade. Wasn’t this the same thing that happened in Duterte’s drug war?” Taule asked.

The Commission on Human Rights also expressed concern over Torre’s statement. CHR Commissioner Beda Epres said all police operations should observe due process. The measure of success should not be the number of arrests, but adherence to proper legal procedures.

“We continue to demand that the illegal drug trade problem in the country be addressed as a socio-economic and health issue. It is not enough to celebrate the fact that the former president is in detention for having ordered a bloodbath and ignoring the real roots of the drug problem. With the Marcos Jr administration’s anti-drug policy just a rehash of the previous one, we should be mindful of the horrors of Duterte’s drug war, and demand that the attendant rights violations are not repeated under the current regime,” Taule appealed.