Fearing the resurgence of illegal drugs in the country, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte hopes his successor will continue the fight against the proliferation of illicit narcotics, which he said continues to threaten the country especially the young generation of Filipinos.

“Itong drugs, I hope that whoever would sit as president would continue the — if not, the ferocity that I did and I accept it maski lang naman sana ‘yung ano ka a little lower than my standard kasi talagang sisirain ang bayan nating ito. I’m so worried about the resurgence of drug problem,” President Duterte said during his Talk to the People aired on Tuesday.

“I just hope that somebody maybe kung hindi ‘yung talagang presidente would find the resolve to just continue with the drive against drug because I said it will destroy our country. It will really destroy our country.”

President Duterte said he does not care about the International Criminal Court (ICC), stressing what bothers him is the continued threat posed by the drug problem in the country.

The government must protect the next generation, he said, arguing future generations of Filipinos “will have a serious problem in their hands,” if the current administration failed to act.

“Kung ganito katindi ngayon ng pamamalakad nila — I’m addressing the nation — kung hindi mo sabayan ng katindi rin ng iyong resolve, eh matatalo talaga,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, in his latest report to the President, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said law enforcers conducted 1,230 anti-illegal drug operations despite the pandemic.

This resulted in the arrest of 1,658 individuals, with 26 drug offenders surrendering to authorities, and a suspect being killed during the anti-illegal drug operations.

In total, authorities confiscated P159.8 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), marijuana, ecstacy, and mogadon. PND