AS THE bodies of suspects continue to pile up, Malacañang on Sunday claimed victory in the “first phase” of the war on drugs.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the government’s unrelenting antidrug campaign, which has claimed almost 2,000 lives barely 60 days after President Duterte was sworn into office, would be entering its “second phase.”

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Andanar said the next step would involve the rehabilitation of some 700,000 drug users who turned themselves in to police for fear of being killed.

“The President wants to (end the drug problem) as soon as possible. The President promised that within three to six months, the problem will solved by 70 to 80 percent,” he said on state-owned dzRB radio.

When told the President had consistently said that drug users could not be rehabilitated, Andanar said Mr. Duterte was only referring to individuals who sniff “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) on a daily basis.

But Andanar said that those using nonsynthetic substances and others regarded as occasional users may still undergo rehabilitation in government-funded institutions.

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