MAASIN CITY (PIA) -- The war against illegal drugs under the Duterte administration is something that was not done or experienced before, the head of the government’s communication arm said.

“It is unprecedented,” Secretary Martin M. Andanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) said in an interview Wednesday over Radio Pilipinas DYSL-Sogod hosted by Dindo Alaras, station manager.

Andanar supported his statement with a string of verified information, foremost of which was the huge drop in the country’s crime volume at 64% covering the five-year period from July 2016 until June 2021.

Also, within that time-span, some 22,000 barangays across the country were certified as drug-cleared, over P59 billion worth of dangerous drugs had been seized, and 1.2 million individuals, all involved in the underground drug trade either as user or seller, surrendered to authorities.

Andanar said the accomplishment has been part of Duterte legacy, along with other notable achievements, a kind of legacy that will serve as a benchmark for the next president after the 2022 elections.

Other highlights of Duterte legacy that were cited by the PCOO chief included the following: extending validity of driver’s license to five years, passports to 10 years, more than 229,000 hectares of land distributed to farmers, over 130 Malasakit Center facilities established, and free irrigation to farmers.

Under the Build, Build, Build program, there were 29,000 kilometers of road constructed, as well as construction of 214 airport projects and 251 seaport projects.

“Eighty (80) percent of the population were satisfied with President Duterte,” Andanar also said. (LDL/MMP/PIA-8/Southern Leyte)