Stepped up drug war shows Duterte bent on ending menace

President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to ramp up the war on drugs by bringing the Philippine National Police (PNP) back to boost the lead efforts of the drug enforcement agency shows the seriousness of his intent to end the drug menace as he promised, a political analyst said.

Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, pointed out Duterte’s decision was accompanied by a plea to the people to give him another year to defeat the drug problem, given the enormity of the threat and the need for personnel support by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in carrying out the campaign.