Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte - through the Presidential Communications Office - remarked that it was unfair to blame China for the current drug problem in the Philippines.
In a statement published by PCO after an article from Reuters was published on December 16 regarding China's role in bringing the main source of drugs and the other required chemicals needed to the Philippines, it said that "Many of those running the drug trade are Chinese triads, which are criminal syndicates. These are not government officials."
"China has strict anti-drug laws, which carries even the penalty of execution when caught." as quoted from the PCO statement.
Duterte has been warming up to China despite the fact most of the drug in the country came from China and has been distancing himself from the US. Duterte himself have announced his "separation" from the US in October when he visited China.
The Philippines' drug control agency say that Chinese nationals have been in the forefront of the drug trade int he country. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said that almost two-thirds of the 77 foreign nationals already arrested for drug offences between January 2015 to mid-August 2016 were Chinese. They also said that all the secret drug laboratories the law enforcers found in the past 20 years had been run by Chinese nationals or have been involved in their creation.
These drug enforcement officials have also remarked that China has done very little when it comes to preventing meth and its precursors from flowing out of the mainland. In the December 16 news report of Reuters, the national police spokesman told Reuters that he was not aware of "any high-profile drug cooperation between China and the Philippines" since Duterte visited the country in October.
The Duterte administration stressed that it is wrong to blame China and connect them with the drug traffickers. As the statement stressed, "It is not fair to blame all of China and her people for the drug problem perpetuated by some of its nationals. Not all Chinese are related to drugs."
The statement also included that an agreement to collaborate on drug control was signed by both President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping in October and at least 50 Philippine olice officers had attended a drug control and law enforcement training program in Yunnan in the same month.
At least 2,000 people have been killed in various police raids since Duterte officially took the post on June 30 and at least 3,000 deaths are being investigated by the police. These killings have gotten the attention of the international community and criticized the war on drugs in the Philippines with the United States being one of the most loudest critics. The US had even acted regarding the issue and had shifted $5 million in funding meant for the Philippines' law enforcement department and brought it away from the drug-control programs.
Duterte was not fazed by the move and in the statement, it said "Efforts to eliminate drugs in the country will not stop even if the United States shifts its funding. Several countries have backed the President's war on drugs. These include China, Japan and Indonesia. They have offered us assistance, support and cooperation without any political strings attached."
The statement had also rejected the criticisms from other countries and groups regarding the crackdown on drug users and small-time pushers rather than putting all the efforts in targetting the drug lords that supply them. It said that the government has already arrested dozens of government officials protecting the drug trade and local politicians and drug lords have already surrendered to the authorities.
The president, as cited by the statement, "has a list of drug personalities with narcopoliticians and Chinese businessmen, and the authorities are doing their best to investigate and validate this list to catch the big fish."
