Former President Rodrigo Duterte vows to raise funds to help the policemen facing legal cases related to his war on drugs.

This was the response of Duterte about the statement of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Marbil there is no official record that his commitments in supporting policemen facing charges for enforcing his drug war.

"I will now make this promise. I will start a fund for the protection of the police, putting up one million (pesos). I will look for funds. I only have one million," he told the members of the Quad Committee during the hearing on Wednesday.

"I will start raising funds to help the police and I will personally appear in court as their defense counsel," he added.

Just recently, Marbil said the impact of the anti-drug campaign of the previous administration "was deeply felt by our police" citing PNP data which shows a total of 1,286 officers who were affected during anti-narcotics operations from July 2016 to June 2022.

Of the figure, 312 were killed while 974 were injured. Marbil said 214 PNP personnel faced 352 criminal cases related to their work during the six-year campaign against illegal drugs.

“Several police officers endured not only physical harm, but also found themselves entangled in legal and administrative challenges,” he said.

As for administrative cases, Marbil noted that 195 police officers were sacked and 398 are facing possible dismissal from the police service while over 20 police officers remain in detention. Robina Asido/DMS