President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that for the past a decade and a half, the Philippines has been "narcopolitics", with a huge number of elected officials being controlled by drug syndicates.

Duterte disclosed this during the awarding ceremonies of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in Malacanang.

"You know, we have been narcopolitics since about 15 years ago. Little did we realize that the police, it’s about 2,000 of them, the barangay captains who hold the governance of the basic unit of our government and some mayors and some governors and a few congressman were already into it," he said in a speech.

Duterte said he only realized it when he started "squeezing" everybody when he became president.

With an estimated four million drug users and pushers in the country, Duterte warned the number could increase if his government would not address the problem.

"If nobody would interdict them in the next four to six years, if you'd just ignore it because you don't want to kill, we are in a sorry state," he said.

"Indeed, we are in a sorry state. That four million will contaminate another 10 million. Then it would be too late for us to really even save the country."

More than 5,000 drug suspects have been killed since July 1, shortly after Duterte assumed the presidency.

Duterte also warned those who would try to bribe. "Give me money? I will shoot you," he said.

He said he is not receiving drug money.

Opposition Senator Leila de Lima earlier accused Duterte of being a protector of illegal drugs when he ordered a police official to be reinstated in Eastern Visayas despite allegations of his involvement in the illegal drug trade in the region. Celerina Monte/DMS