Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said on Saturday the award he received from Indonesia showed that his decisions in the war against illegal drugs were right.

In an ambush interview at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, Dela Rosa said he was flattered to receive Bintang Bhayangkara Utama or Medal of Honor from the Indonesian National Police (INP) in a ceremony in Jakarta on Feb. 14.

"I am deeply honored. In fact, who will not be happy? Here in the Philippines you are not able to receive that highest award," Dela Rosa said.

According to the police chief, the Medal of Honor is equivalent to the Philippines' Medal of Valor.

"It gives me a sense of feeling that what I'm doing is right. I became confident that all the decisions that I made in line with our war on drugs are correct because other country recognized it," he said.

"You cannot fool a country just like that... they see what has been happening because they also have the same drug problem," he added.

The Duterte administration, particularly the PNP, has been criticized locally and internationally for the thousands of people who have been killed due to the war on drugs.

The INP also conferred the Bintang Bhayangkara Utama award to the Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore, the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, the Commissioner of Royal Brunei Police Force, the Inspector General of Royal Malaysia Police, the Commissioner of Singapore Police, and the Director of Internal Security Department of Singapore. Ella Dionisio/DMS