PNP expects more casualties in drug war

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police expects more casualties as its campaign against illegal drugs shifts to higher gear, targeting this time the big drug syndicates that supply the banned substances.

In an interview over radio station dzBB on Sunday, PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac said the intensified anti-illegal drug campaign this month would be aimed at drug supply reduction.

“We want to defeat the illegal drug menace because all of us are its victims … We expect a higher number of possible casualties in our campaign against illegal drugs because we have drug offenders who refuse to stop engaging in the narcotics trade and there are still many of them who continue to resist arrest and fight it out when caught,” Banac said.

He noted that even PNP personnel would end up as casualties if they were involved in the illegal drug trade.

But Banac said that casualties would be avoided as much as possible in any police operation.

“We need to enforce the law and if a suspect resists and fights it out … we can do nothing but use equal force,” he said.

Based on PNP data, 6,600 drug suspects and 49 policemen were killed in the war on drugs from July 2016 to May 2019 during 153,000 anti-illegal drug operations nationwide, which also resulted in the arrest of some 240,000 suspects.

“Despite our efforts, illegal drugs continue to flood our country. This is what we have to stop, the network of narcotics supply,” Banac explained.

The PNP spokesperson noted that big drug syndicates were the sources of illegal drugs.