THE chair of the House Quad Committee, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, described former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs as a “catastrophic failure” on Tuesday, citing its alleged role in entrenching corruption within the Philippine National Police (PNP), fostering impunity, and leading to widespread human rights violations.
Backing Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s claim of a “grand conspiracy” within the PNP to conceal criminal activities, Barbers called this revelation a long-overdue reckoning.
“While I supported the anti-drug campaign of the previous administration as a necessary response to a growing crisis, it is now undeniable that it became a catastrophic failure,” Barbers stated.
“Instead of upholding justice, it opened the floodgates to corruption in the PNP, fostered a culture of impunity that left thousands of innocent lives destroyed, and even allowed recycled drugs to poison our streets again,” he added.
Barbers, who also chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, pointed to the indictment of 30 police officers, including two generals, over a fabricated drug haul in 2022 as “indisputable proof” of systemic abuse enabled by Duterte’s policies.
“This only confirms what we in the Quad Committee have uncovered—the Duterte administration’s reward system turned law enforcement into a criminal enterprise. It prioritized kill statistics and inflated accomplishments over genuine reform and public safety,” Barbers emphasized.
Remulla previously revealed that the fabricated drug haul was part of a broader conspiracy to hide criminal activities within the PNP. He announced that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would investigate drug-related operations from 2016 to 2022, focusing on the controversial reward system uncovered during Quad Committee hearings.
Witness testimonies, including that of retired police colonel and former PCSO General Manager Royina Garma, revealed that the Duterte administration offered cash rewards for drug-related arrests, seizures, and killings.
Barbers echoed Remulla’s concerns, asserting that the reward system fostered malpractice within the PNP. “This reward system didn’t just encourage shortcuts—it bred criminal enterprises within the very institution tasked with upholding the law,” he said.
Officers allegedly fabricated evidence, inflated statistics, and exploited the system for personal gain, while accountability was deliberately avoided. “The reckless policies of the Duterte administration created the perfect storm for corruption,” Barbers declared.
He stressed that the fabricated drug haul serves as a damning indictment of Duterte’s entire governance approach, adding, “By prioritizing kill statistics over accountability, he turned the PNP into a rogue organization that thrived on shortcuts and blood money.”
Barbers called for comprehensive reforms to dismantle the “culture of impunity” within the PNP, emphasizing the need for independent oversight of reward systems, stricter transparency in police operations, and harsher penalties for extrajudicial killings.
“These reforms are not negotiable. We must hold people accountable and prevent these atrocities from happening again. The days of unchecked abuse and corruption must end,” he said.
The indictment of the 30 officers, according to Barbers, should mark the beginning of a broader push for justice. He commended the DILG for its resolve to investigate the full extent of the reward system’s role in Duterte’s drug war.
“This investigation is a critical moment for the country. It’s a chance to show that no one—not even the most powerful—is above the law. We must act decisively to deliver justice and restore public confidence,” Barbers concluded.