PNP chief Torre says ‘Oplan Tokhang’ was flawed

Philippine National Police chief General Nicolas Torre III  (Photo from PNP)

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III on Wednesday described as flawed the anti-illegal drugs drive Oplan Tokhang of the Duterte administration.

“Oplan Tokhang, in its most basic concept, is flawed,” Torre said at a PNP Press Corps event in Camp Crame on Wednesday night.

“Think about it: we go to someone’s house, knock on the door, beg the suspected lawbreakers to stop, yet do we have the evidence?” he stressed.

“Tokhang” is a play of the words “toktok” (which means “to knock”) and “hangyo” (which means “to plead”).

Human rights groups estimate that Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign killed between 12,000 and 30,000 people, many of whom were from poor communities and supposedly resisted arrest.

‘Not shit happens’

Torre later turned his attention to a claim that the case against the former President was weak and that the thousands of deaths tallied by human rights groups were false since the arrest warrant only cited 43 deaths.

“This is fake news in its cruelest form. It trivializes the experience of the families of the victims. Let us be clear: the deaths of drug war victims are not as someone famously shrugged, ‘Shit happens,’” Torre said.

“Healing begins with acknowledging laws,” he added.

READ: Duterte’s ICC arrest: Separating fact from lies

Although Torre did not name names, it was Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who said “shit happens” in response to a three-year-old girl being fatally shot in an anti-drug operation in Rizal in 2019.

Dela Rosa was Duterte’s first PNP chief, who held the post from 2016 to 2018 and was credited as the “architect” of the drug war.

Distancing from drug war

Torre led the enforcement of the arrest warrant against Duterte last March.

The former President is now detained at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the drug war.

Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing is scheduled on September 23.

READ: Order to make more arrests is unlike drug war’s ‘reward system’ – Torre

Torre previously distanced the police force from Duterte’s brutal anti-narcotics campaign when he assumed office as PNP chief last June.

After the Commission on Human Rights expressed concern over his directive for police officers to make more arrests as part of their performance metrics, Torre emphasized that the order was only for “legal” arrests. /gsg