PNP insists ‘kill ratio’ in drug war just 5-6 percent, not 97

NCRPO director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde. INQUIRER FILE

Metro Manila’s top police official on Wednesday took issue with a Reuters report that placed the Philippine National Police’s kill ratio in drug operations at 97 percent, one of the highest worldwide.

Director Oscar Albayalde, chief  of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), maintained that the number of suspected drug users and dealers killed in the metropolis was only about 5 to 6 percent of the total number targeted in legitimate operations.

“It is a very small percentage compared to the arrest rate in the NCR. That killing rate (97 percent) is probably not true,” Albayalde told reporters.

NCRPO’s latest accomplishment report showed that 10,991 were targeted by police operations from July 1 to Nov. 12. Of the total, 10,288 or about 94 percent were arrested while 703 or about 6 percent were killed.

The Reuters report derived the 97 percent killing ratio by “reviewing” drug-related shootings in Metro Manila. It selected 42 cases covered by journalists and nine cases investigated by the Commission on Human Rights since President Duterte assumed office.

Of the 51 incidents, 100 suspects were killed and three were wounded, leading to the conclusion that 97 percent (100 out of 103) led to the targets’ death.

PNP figures for the whole country from July 1 to Dec. 3 showed 2,028 suspected “drug personalities” killed and 38,999 arrested in 37,626 police operations. This translates to a kill ratio of around 4.9 percent.

From July 1 to Nov. 30, the PNP reported 3,841 people killed in 2,777 incidents described as “deaths under investigation.”