PNP says death toll in war on drugs nearing 3,000

THE BODY count in the government’s war on drugs reached almost 3,000, just over two months since President Duterte assumed office.

The latest count, released by Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Dionardo Carlos, showed that 1,466 “drug personalities” were killed while 1,490 drug-related deaths were under investigation from July 1 to Sept. 10.

A total of 16,025 individuals were arrested in 17,389 police operations dubbed “Oplan Double Barrel,” the PNP also reported.

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa launched operations plan Double Barrel to carry out President’s Duterte’s campaign promise to end the drug menace in three to six months by zeroing in on “high-value targets and street-level personalities.”

Knocking on doors

A total of 900,814 houses were visited by policemen under “Project Tokhang,” an antidrug operation where police knock on the doors of suspected drug addicts and pushers and warn them of the consequences of their acts.

The number of surrenderers reached 709,527. Of the number, 52,568 were alleged to be drug pushers and 659,959 were said to be drug addicts.

Police have so far filed only 292 drug cases against certain individuals.
Dela Rosa has been under pressure to intensify the PNP’s antidrug campaign and coordinate with local government units to increase the number of surrenderers.

Earlier, he was disappointed the number of surrenderers had not reached one million when the PNP estimate was that there were 1.8 million illegal drug users in the country.

He did not explain how this estimate was reached.

Earlier, a health official said during a Senate inquiry into the antidrug campaign that only nine percent, or just over 50,000 of the surrenderers, actually needed drug rehabilitation. The country’s rehab facilities could only accommodate 5,000 at any one time, the official had said.

Many surrenderers told reporters they reported to police station under duress, or because they feared the police would kill them. Many were also forced to sign a document admitting use of illegal drugs.