EPD: 78 ‘Tokhang’ surrenderers dead

A vigilante-style killing that victimized two drug suspects in Rosario, Pasig, on Sept. 23. —RAFFY LERMA

A total of 78 people who had surrendered to the Eastern Police District (EPD) under Oplan Tokhang have been killed since the antidrug campaign was launched in July, either in police operations or vigilante-style attacks.

According to EPD records, 38 surrenderers have been killed by unidentified gunmen—their cases listed as “deaths under investigation (DUI)”—while 40 have died as a result of police operations.

The EPD covers the cities of Pasig, Marikina, San Juan and Mandaluyong.

In Pasig, the local police have recorded five DUI cases; 10 in Mandaluyong, and 20 in Marikina. (San Juan has recorded 18 drug suspects killed since July but none of them were Tokhang surrenderers.)

Meanwhile, police operations resulted in the death of 16 Tokhang surrenderers in Pasig, eight in Mandaluyong; 15 in Marikina and one in San Juan.

The police maintained that in most cases these suspects were cornered by teams conducting buy-bust operations, wherein they allegedly fired at the lawmen upon sensing the trap and were killed in the ensuing “shootout.”

In an earlier interview, Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula, the EPD director, noted that many suspects who had surrendered continued to be involved in the drug trade.

As of Nov. 15, the EPD has recorded 9,375 surrenderers from the four cities, of whom 244 were listed as drug pushers while the rest were counted as drug users, according to Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo, the EPD deputy chief for operations.

Pasig has the highest number of surrenderers with 4,019; Mandaluyong is second with 2,438; Marikina has 2023, while San Juan has 895.

Since July, 979 suspects —those who did not surrender under Tokhang but were on the drug watch list prepared by their barangays—have been arrested; 41 were killed in police operations; 14 were found dead in the streets, while 139 were killed by unidentified gunmen.

At least 1,822 drug users are currently undergoing rehabilitation, De Ocampo added.