Mayors anxious over drug killings

The rising number of drug suspects being killed almost every day is driving away surrenderers, putting the government’s drug rehab program in peril, local officials claim. —RAFFY LERMA

Concerns over the increasing number of unsolved drug-related killings were raised on Thursday during a meeting between Metro Manila mayors and Interior Secretary Mike Sueno.

Pateros Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce III observed during the Metro Manila Council meeting that since July, 37 drug suspects have been killed by the “bonnet gang” in his municipality without any of the perpetrators being arrested.

According to him, this has discouraged those who earlier surrendered under “Oplan Tokhang” as shown by the drop in the weekly Zumba attendance from around 300 to barely 10. Surrenderers are required to attend the Zumba sessions as part of their rehabilitation.

“This is a reality that I want to bring up with Secretary Sueno and especially addressed to our police force. There are no more [drug] surrenderers; they no longer want to participate in rehabilitation programs because they are afraid,” Ponce said.

He added that most of his constituents believed that policemen were behind the killings. “If these are carried out by vigilantes, we should arrest them. At the end of the day, we remain answerable to our constituents and they are looking for answers [to] why the killings continue.”

Mandaluyong City Mayor Carmelita Abalos agreed with Ponce, citing a case in which tandem-riding assailants shot someone near a police car but the lawmen did not go after the criminals.

“How can we bring back the trust of surrenderers? They are willing to change but they need protection,” Abalos said.

The Metro mayors then decided to hold a closed-door session to freely discuss the issue with Sueno. Originally, the meeting was called to discuss solid waste and traffic management measures.

Sueno afterward told reporters that he would bring up the mayors’ concerns over drug-related killings with Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

However, he downplayed the issue, saying that Tokhang surrenderers who were subsequently killed were isolated cases. “It’s not a problem in all cities, just two or three, and we are trying to solve it,” he said.

Manila City administrator Ericson Alcovendaz, who represented Mayor Joseph Estrada, said he agreed with other mayors that the vigilante-style killings were diminishing the credibility of the government’s war against drugs.

“That’s the directive of Mayor Erap. We should put an end to the drug menace but not resort to shortcuts,” Alcovendaz told reporters.

Based on the Inquirer’s “Kill List,” a total of 1,639 people have died in the government’s ongoing war on drugs as of 12 p.m., Nov. 22. The figure includes those killed in legitimate police operations as well as those targeted by suspected vigilantes.