President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to return to the Philippine National Police the authority to lead the war against illegal drugs aims to prevent the problem from worsening, Malacanang said on Thursday.

In a speech in a military camp on Wednesday night, Duterte said he has to allow the police again to handle the anti-drug operations instead of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

"But whether I like it or not, I have to return that power to the police because surely, it will increase the activity of shabu," Duterte said.

Early last month, Duterte issued a Memorandum Circular allowing PDEA to be the lead and sole agency in conducting the operations against illegal drugs and not the PNP nor the other agencies.

With Duterte's latest statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press briefing, said "there is now a very strong likelihood that it (war on drugs) could be returned to the PNP."

As cited by the President, he said the reason for possible return of the drug war to the police was "to avoid the problem from worsening."

In a television interview, PDEA director general Aaron Aquino welcomed the plan to allow the PNP to be the lead agency in the anti-drug campaign.

He said whether it is the PDEA, the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation or other agency to take the lead, what is important is that they were "one in the fight against this menace."

PDEA has only about 2,000 agents compared to about 175,000 police personnel.

Duterte has been criticized locally and internationally for the extrajudicial killings when the PNP was still handling the war on drugs. Celerina Monte/DMS