Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa on Monday said he does not care about the international community's negative perception as long as Filipinos are happy with the war on drugs.
"I don't care what the Europeans say, I don't care what the American's say but what I care about are what the lowly Filipinos say about our campaign on drugs," Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa was reacting to the Pulse Asia survey on the sense of security of Filipinos amid the police's campaign against illegal drugs.
The survey, conducted in December last year, showed that 81 percent of Filipinos feel safer because of the war on drugs, which has been criticized by international groups due to the number of drug suspects killed.
“‘Yung taumbayan talaga ang pinaka-gauge ng ating trabaho,” Dela Rosa said.
"Bahala na sila, wala akong pakialam sa kanila basta importante masaya ‘yung Filipino mismo because we are working for the Filipino people, not [for] the foreigners,” he added.
Dela Rosa earlier contradicted reports that at least 7,000 cases of drug-related killings have been recorded in the country since President Rodrigo Duterte declared the war on drugs.
The European Parliament recently approved a joint resolution asking for a United Nations investigation into the killings in the Philippines related to the Duterte administration's drug war.
It called on the European Union to support the establishment of an independent international investigation of the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the drug suspects' killings.
It also urged the release of Sen. Leila de Lima, who has been detained due to drug charges.
Rights groups including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have criticized the drug war.
SOURCE: GMA