President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday revealed that the call for all colonels and police generals to submit their courtesy resignations  was his directive and a part of his administration’s anti-drug initiatives.

“Oh, yes. We were planning this for a while,” Marcos said in an interview when asked about Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.’s call for high-ranking officials to resign amid fears of their involvement in the drug trade.

“Well, let me be very clear. Remember, during the campaign, when I was asked what we should do about the drug war or drug problem? This is it. We approach it in an entirely different way. We know that the drug problem would not have happened if some police have not been involved in this,” said the President.

This initiative is a step for the government to identify who among the high-ranking police officials have connections with drug lords. “So, we need to take a good look at who is really involved, and who can no longer provide services because they are associated with drug lords,” added the Chief Executive.

“We are just cleansing the ranks and trying to see and making sure that we can rely on officers who are with us and they working for the government, not working for to another syndicate,” he added.

The government has formed a commission to do background checks on all top police officers to see if they are in any way involved in the drug trade. The commission is expected to come up with recommendations to clear Philippine National Police officials of suspicion or dismiss them from the service.