The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said the death penalty should be imposed on drug offenders if illegal drugs confiscated from are more than 50 grams of shabu.

In a TV interview, Police General Archie Gamboa said the proposed law to revive the death penalty should be for high value targets and not for ordinary peddlers.

“With the intent of (what) the President (Rodrigo Duterte) told during the State of the Nation Address… it is really for high-value individuals or high amount of shabu confiscated. So yes we agree that it can be on the terms of those who are really involved to a certain degree higher than the ordinary peddlers on the streets on the use of illegal drugs,'' he said.

''It's really up for the Congress and Senate to determine the degree of death penalty,” Gamboa said.

“When you say 50 grams and above it would entail a lot of work and a lot of surveillance and effort. You cannot just pick up somebody or you cannot just apprehend somebody then confiscate 50 grams. So maybe around 50 (grams) to one kilo I think that's enough to impose death penalty,” he said.

Though there are studies which say the death penalty is not the solution to end the spread of illegal drugs, Gamboa said those studies are good for the legislators to ponder upon in enacting the law.

Gamboa added they strongly believe on the proclamation of Duterte that death penalty would really be a big boost on the part of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

"We believe that this is a deterrent... this is a revelation coming from those who are apprehended and counterparts from other countries. What they say is the illegal drugs did not stop in their place because there is no death penalty,” he said.

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, Duterte renewed his call to Congress for the passage of death penalty for crimes under the 2002 Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. Ella Dionisio/DMS