The war on drugs, with its extrajudicial killings during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, led to more crimes, leaders of the House quadruple committee said, disputing his assertion that crime was on the rise under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Quad Committee Co-Chair and Sta. Rosa Rep. Danilo Fernandez said Philippine National Police (PNP) data belied the former president’s claims.

The PNP, Fernandez added, noted that crimes recorded between July 1, 2022 and July 28, 2024 fell by almost 62 percent to 83,059, compared to 217,830 during the first two years of Duterte’s presidential term.

Quad Committee Co-Chair and Sta. Representative Rosa Danilo Fernández. Photo from the FB page of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Cases of murder, homicide, bodily injury and rape decreased by 55.69 percent, while cases of robbery, theft, car theft and other property crimes decreased from 66.81 to 41,420 against 124,799 in the same comparative periods, Fernández said.

Fernandez also noted that crime solving efficiency increased by 27.13 percent while crime solving efficiency rate increased by 10.28 percent.

“We were misled (by the previous administration),” Fernandez said.

Quad committee senior chairman and Surigao del Sur Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the PNP reported drug seizures worth P35.6 billion and arrested 122,309 drug suspects.

Both men agreed that the Marcos government’s campaign against illegal drugs, unlike that of its predecessor, has been relatively bloodless.

“Today’s national leaders value and respect the sanctity of life,” Barbers added.

Fernandez said the current administration’s anti-drug war is unlikely to arouse public anger, resentment and desire for revenge because “it focuses on arresting suspects and their rehabilitation, instead of ‘neutralizing’ them.

Barbers believed the former president’s war on drugs led to more crimes instead of fewer crimes because victims’ families could get revenge on those who committed them.

Meanwhile, Barbers said they will take note of the former president’s testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee and confirm them once he testifies before the House panel.

He said they would send invitations to everyone, including the former president, for the panel’s next hearing on November 7.

Barbers also said they would also ask Duterte to control the use of foul language during his testimony before the panel, but he said he could not say whether he would cite the former president for contempt if he had exchanges of views then he did so with Senator Risa Hontiveros, who denounced him for using expletives in the Senate.

“We’ll cross the bridge once we get there,” Barbers said. “As we said, if we invite him, we will give him all the courtesy he is due.”

Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos defended Duterte’s war on drugs, saying it was necessary at the time because the drug menace had already corrupted some in the judiciary, military establishment and police forces.

The senator said in an interview with “PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia” that young children and women in her province, Ilocos Norte, were being exploited by drug syndicates to sell drugs.

Marcos said she witnessed the ill effects of illegal drugs when she was governor of Ilocos Norte. She also observed that some judges and generals denied the proliferation of drugs in the province.

“I’m so helpless and angry, and I felt like I was being misled by (concerned) officials in Manila, who said this wasn’t happening. The generals said everything was fine,” she said. she declared in Filipino and English.

“What do you mean, are you okay? We had a high teenage suicide rate due to (use of) drugs. They were children of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). Despite my gratitude and my friendship with President Duterte, the war on drugs was very necessary,” Marcos emphasized.

“So, I felt that drastic measures had to be put in place. But I’m not saying that I agree with everything that happened (during the war on drugs), like the murders. I “I wasn’t aware of what happened in other areas,” she said. said.

Also Wednesday, Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa said Dutere was “only joking” when he admitted under oath before the Senate that he had his own death squad when he was mayor of Davao City.

Dela Rosa, who oversaw Duterte’s bloody war on drugs as PNP chief, said the term “DDS” was a media creation and that he had never found evidence of its use in the city when he was Davao police chief.