Davao City Mayor Inday Sarah Duterte during the Hugpong ng Pagbabago campaign rally in Mandaluyong City in 2021. INQUIRER file photo / JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines — Vice presidential candidate and Davao City mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio will push for a “fair” enforcement of law in her campaign against illegal drugs should she win in the May 9 elections.
Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, said she will continue her father’s fight against illegal drugs. She said she will draw from their anti-criminality campaign in Davao City, which entails ensuring that law enforcement agencies are fairly implementing the law.
“Itutuloy natin yung mga nasimulan ni Pangulong Duterte. Nakita natin na sa kanyang administration, bumaba talaga yung crime rate sa buong Pilipinas,” Duterte-Carpio told reporters in Batangas.
“Ang gagawin natin is kung ano yung ginawa natin don sa Davao City. Ieemphasize natin sa ating law enforcement agencies, particularly sa ating mga kapulisan sa Philippine National Police natin na ang unang-unang trabaho nila is pantay-pantay na enforcement ng ating batas,” she added.
The President’s campaign against drugs has been widely criticized by human rights activists locally and internationally.
The European Parliament earlier issued a resolution underscoring the human rights situation in the Philippines warning of the withdrawal of the country’s trade privileges with the European Union (EU).
Among the human rights issues condemned by the European Parliament are the extrajudicial deaths in the drug war.
While total deaths sit at 6,225 officially according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, some human rights groups have claimed that the actual number of individuals slain during the drug war can be between 12,000 to 30,000.
A study done by the University of the Philippines (UP) on July 23 last year, even revealed that the drug war had killed an estimated two people each day.
The Palace, however, has dubbed President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs as “successful.”
In July 2021, then presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said P49-billion worth of illegal drugs were intercepted while over 293,000 persons involved in the drug trade were arrested, more than 12,000 of whom were high-value targets.