Palace: Phl safer under Marcos

The Philippines is safer and the people are more secure than ever under President Marcos, Malacañang asserted yesterday, contrary to claims by former president Rodrigo Duterte at a Senate hearing that crime has become rampant in the country.

- By HELEN FLORES

"With due respect to former president Rodrigo Duterte – there is no truth to his statement that crime remains rampant in the country," Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement.

Bersamin said statistics from the Philippine National Police show "the complete opposite." In defense of his bloody war on drugs, the former president claimed at the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing yesterday that criminal activities had soared since Marcos took over.

"There has been a widespread decline in crime across the board," Bersamin said. "Moreover, we have achieved stability and maintained peace and order in our country without forgoing due process nor setting aside the basic human rights of any Filipino." This was the first time Duterte attended an inquiry into the bloody drug war after he stepped down. He had begged off from a similar investigation by the quad committee of the House of Representatives.

Malacañang, meanwhile, also slammed Duterte for citing "outdated" facts about a drug raid in San Miguel, Manila, where the Palace is situated.

Duterte was apparently referring to the arrest of a suspected drug pusher at a residential area in Malacañang complex in San Miguel.

"Further, the incident which the former president cited - of a drug raid in San Miguel, Manila - is based on outdated information," Bersamin said.

"In that case, one suspect was arrested, drug paraphernalia was seized and his partner is now being pursued by law enforcement," he said.

"All of this shows that our country is safer, our people more secure and our future more assured than ever before under the stewardship of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,' Bersamin, a former chief justice, said.

Marcos had said his government would not hand over Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating the previous administration's alleged atrocities in its war on drugs.

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