President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that he failed to accomplish his campaign promise to clean the country from illegal drugs within the first six months of his presidency.

"I said I can clean it in six months. Then after that, I realized I was wrong... maybe it’s hubris, it was campaign time, campaign is all about bragging," he said.

Despite Duterte's admission, Secretary Martin Andanar, Presidential Communications Secretary and Acting Presidential spokesperson, explained that the president's "recent remarks on the illegal drug trade underscores the depth, the magnitude and the complexity of the problem which was unknown to him when he was a presidential candidate."

"The Palace, thus, maintains that the Duterte Administration’s campaign against illegal drugs remains unprecedented as it is able to produce significant accomplishments in the number of drugs seized, dens and clandestine laboratories dismantled as well as drug-cleared barangays," he said.

Andanar said "from July 1, 2016 to February 28, 2022, a total value of P63.43 billion or 9,915 kgs of shabu were seized; 1,075 dens and clandestine laboratories were dismantled; 24,379 barangays were cleared while 6,606 were unaffected or drug-free barangays."

He also noted that a total of 331,694 individuals were arrested during the conduct of 229,868 anti-illegal drug operations. Robina Asido/DMS