The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday said crimes connected to the use of illegal drugs dropped by ''59 percent to almost 60 percent'' five years since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on illegal drugs".

In a virtual forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said as the former Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director when the Duterte administration started, he saw the problems in illegal drugs.

"I would like to compare this with the crime statistics, the index crime which is the barometer of peace and order. We know for a fact that most of the crimes being committed particularly in index crimes, like crimes against persons and crimes against criminality are somehow connected or associated with the use of drugs and we have seen the drop by 59 percent to almost 60 percent for almost five years of this administration," he said.

"Compared to before, everybody could admit that our country is safer, especially at night," he added.

Eleaazar admitted that the situation when it comes to illegal drugs is still not perfect but improvements were made.

"We have cleared so many barangays since we started and as we said, this is a whole of community approach and this is not just the responsibility of the PNP or PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) because we are just part of in charge of the enforcement," he said.

As to the alleged drug suspects who died during anti-illegal drug operations, Eleazar said these deaths all came from legitimate operations where the suspects fought against police officers.

"Otherwise if that is not the reason, then an encounter should not happen. Are there lapses? That is another thing and we are investigating that," he said.

Based on the government's data, from July 1, 2016 to April 30, 2021, a total of 200, 632 anti-illegal drug operations were launched where 289, 622 were arrested while 6, 117 died during operations. Ella Dionisio/DMS