Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Monday said he could only wish that policemen linked to the illegal drug trade could be subjected to a different kind of Oplan Tokhang.

Dela Rosa earlier said in jest that instead of subjecting erring cops to "Oplan Tokhang," they should be subjected to "Oplan Tok-bang," wherein anti-narcotics authorities will just automatically gun down cops suspected to be drug users and peddlers after knocking on their doors.

Oplan Tokhang is a police operation where law enforcers knock at the doors of drug offenders and ask them to surrender.

• SEE: Tok, tok...bang, bang: The bloody war on drugs

But Dela Rosa backtracked, saying how he wishes it could be done, but that would be illegal.

"How I wish, ganun ang mangyari para maalis agad problem ng Pilipinas. 'Yung nag-swear pa na to serve and protect tapos ngayon sila gumagawa ng kasindikatuhan. Gusto ko sana, but that's illegal. Wish ko lang," he said.

[How I wish that could be the case so that the Philippine drug problem will immediately be eliminated. It's sad people who swear to serve and protect are members of syndicates. I wish we can, but that's illegal. I could only wish.]

• READ: 'Bato' dela Rosa: 'We are at war,' no regrets about killings

In July, President Rodrigo Duterte released his first "drug list," naming five top police officials allegedly involved in the protection of drug rings.

In August, he bared another list of 159 alleged drug coddlers from the law agencies, and the executive and judiciary branches.

Despite admitting that he committed errors in a previous drug list, Duterte stood by the credibility of his sources, and is set to identify alleged drug peddlers.

- With reports from Grace Alba, ABS-CBN News