MANILA -- The Marcos administration had reported confiscating around PhP10.41 billion worth of illegal drugs from January to December 2023 and cleared more than 27,000 barangays of narcotics under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s new approach to address the menace.

In a report by the Philippine National Police (PNP), aside from confiscating large volume of illegal drugs, it arrested 56,495 suspects after conducting more than 44,000 anti-illegal drug operations.

Through the consolidated efforts of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the PNP, the government cleared 27,968 barangays of illegal drugs, with 23 provinces, 447 municipalities, and 43 cities establishing their respective community-based drug rehabilitation programs (CBDRPs) as of December 27, 2023, the administration said in a separate annual accomplishment report.

The report added that 50 provinces, 1,160 municipalities, and 30 cities have functional Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) implementing anti-drug priorities at the local level.

In addition, 74 established in-patient treatment and rehabilitation facilities were also put up.

The recent government successes was under President Marcos’s new approach to address illegal drugs by focusing on rehabilitation, reintegration, and preventive education programs specifically for the youth.

In line with this, the DILG, in partnership with other national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), the private sector, faith-based and civil society organizations, launched the Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Iwasan (BIDA) Program in November 2022.

The DDB, on the other hand, continues to implement the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP), with the goal of attaining 100 percent drug-free/drug-cleared barangays by 2028.

And to reduce the supply of illegal drugs, the PDEA intensified its efforts against top-level drug personalities, not only by arresting them but also by strengthening financial investigation to immobilize their assets.

On demand reduction, the PDEA trained and capacitated LGUs and stakeholders in the anti-illegal drug advocacy and rehabilitation campaign programs.

Moving forward, the administration targets by June 2028 to reduce the target-listed drug personalities by 10 percent of the annual target list and establish CBDRPs and ADACs in all provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays.

It also wants to attain a 1:1 ratio of established treatment and rehabilitation facility per province by 2028. (PND)