President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that killing drug suspects was not part of his administration's plan to deal with the illegal drug issue in the Philippines.

In his speech during the third State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said no lives were lost in more than 71,000 drug operations that produced illicit substances valued at P44 billion.

"Our bloodless war on dangerous drugs adheres— and will continue to adhere— to the established '8 Es' of an effective anti-illegal drugs strategy," Marcos said.

“Extermination was never one of them,” Marcos added.

Marcos' stance is a big shift from the policy of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who supported a tougher strategy that included executing drug suspects.

Under the Duterte administration, the war on drugs began in 2016. Human rights organizations from around the world and locally stated that thousands of people had been killed, including extrajudicial deaths. 

Human rights organizations both domestically and internationally harshly criticized Duterte's administration for initiating the drug war in 2016 on the grounds of purported extrajudicial murders.

Over 71,500 drug operations have been carried out since Marcos took power, and he claims that 97,000 drug personalities have been detained and more than P44 billion worth of illegal substances have been seized.

More than 6,000 people were detained, according to the President, and 440 of them were government workers, of which 77 were elected officials and 42 were uniformed troops.

Marcos claimed that assets and filthy money totaling more over P500 million had been frozen and maintained, further impeding their operations.