Drug war deaths still at 5,500 mark—gov’t tally

MANILA, Philippines—The number of drug suspects killed in anti-drug operations has remained within the 5,500 mark, the government’s latest data showed Thursday.

According to data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), 5,552 persons died in the course of 151,601 anti-illegal drug operations while 220,728 persons were arrested from July 1, 2016, to Nov. 30, 2019.

The drug war deaths breached the 5,500 mark last July when it hit 5,526.

The PDEA, the lead agency in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, reported that a total of 433 dens and clandestine laboratories were dismantled in the same period.

Of the country’s 42,045 barangays, 16,706 were declared “drug-cleared” by PDEA, bringing the number of villages yet to be cleared to 17,175.

Meanwhile, 726 government workers were arrested in drug operations with 347 of them being government employees, 297 are elected officials and 82 are uniformed personnel.

The government has so far seized 40.39 billion worth of illegal drugs. Of this, was 5,183 kilograms of methamphetamine or “shabu” worth some P31.25 billion

The PDEA also reported having arrested 8,185 high-value targets.

The PDEA’s report is part of the government’s “Real Numbers” initiative, which is aimed at countering alleged “false narrative” on the war on drugs.

Duterte has made the war on drugs the focal point of his administration. He has been harshly criticized for his brutal program with human rights groups claiming that as much as 27,000 lives have been claimed by the drug war and by unknown hitmen.

Edited by MUF