Malacañang on Monday refuted the remarks of former president Rodrigo Duterte that there is increasing criminality in the country under the present administration. 

“With due respect to former president Rodrigo Duterte—there is no truth to his statement that crime remains rampant in the country,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement. 

During the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee sub-panel’s inquiry on the illegal drugs war on Monday, Duterte lamented the criminalities related to the use of illegal drugs have increased since his administration ended. 

He also mentioned a certain illegal drug operation that was conducted in the vicinity of Malacañang Palace in San Miguel, Manila.  

“It is unfortunate that illegal drugs are on the rise again. Every day you can read about children being raped, people getting killed and robbed, and just recently, a drug den was raided within the Malacañang complex. This manifests that then purveyors of this menace are back in business,” Duterte told the senators. 

Contrary to what Duterte stated in the upper chamber, Bersamin stressed the statistics from the Philippine National Police (PNP) reveal the "complete opposite.”

“There has been a widespread decline in crime across the board. Moreover, we have achieved stability and maintained peace and order in our country without foregoing due process nor setting aside the basic human rights of any Filipino,” he said.

Bersamin also lamented that “the incident which the former president cited—of a drug raid in San Miguel, Manila—is based on outdated information.”

“In that case, one suspect was arrested, drug paraphernalia was seized, and his partner is now being pursued by law enforcement,” Bersamin said, as he defended that under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines is “safer.

“All of this shows that our country is safer, our people more secure, and our future more assured than ever before under the stewardship of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” he added.