The Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame (Photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
A total of 2,169 people have been killed in “Operation Double Barrel,” the Philippine National Police’s anti-illegal drug campaign, in the past six months, official data showed.
Citing reports from its regional offices, the PNP also said 43,196 arrested in 40,420 antidrug operations from July 1, 2016 until 6 p.m. of Jan. 1.
Twenty-one policemen and three soldiers were killed, while 61 policemen and eight soldiers were wounded.
Through its Oplan “Tokhang,” or “visitations” of residences of suspected drug dealers and dependents, the PNP said its operatives visited a total of 5,919,650 houses, resulting in the surrender of 74,944 confessed pushers and 936,186 users.
On Dec. 27, PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa said the PNP had surpassed 70 percent of its target to account for some 1.8 million “drug personalities” or those involved in illegal drugs.
Citing statistics from the PNP Directorate for Operations, Dela Rosa said the antidrug campaign accounted for 73.7 percent—or 1,326,472 of the 1.8 million – from July 1 to Dec. 22, 2016.
The data included not only those who gave up under Project Tokhang and those killed or arrested in police operations, but also those who were already in jail or under rehabilitation, and those arrested or killed in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
Nationwide survey
The 1.8-million figure came from the nationwide survey conducted by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) in 2015 to estimate the number of Filipinos who were then involved in drugs.
Dela Rosa said the 3 million to 4 million drug addicts being cited by President Duterte in his speeches were derived from the DDB estimate, which saw “exponential growth.”
He said the number would be taken into account within the President’s six-year term. In a television interview, Mr. Duterte said the campaign would not stop as long as the last drug lord, dealer and dependent remained free.
Six-month extension
Dela Rosa, however, admitted that the PNP had difficulty achieving the 70-percent target for 2016.
Oplan Double Barrel entered its second phase, or “Alpha,” in late October after Dela Rosa sought a six-month extension from Mr. Duterte. His request was granted.
During this phase, the PNP will focus more on the arrest or “neutralization” of “high-value target” personalities involved in illegal drugs. It will progress to a “barangay drug-clearing strategy” to be coordinated with other government agencies.
For this year, Dela Rosa said the PNP leadership would also focus on internal cleansing.
The PNP maintains separate statistics for so-called “deaths under investigation” (DUIs), which are murders and homicides that may or may not be drug-related and whose circumstances or motives are still being ascertained.
As of Dec. 15, the PNP recorded 2,928 DUIs out of the 4,049 total number of deaths due to murder or homicide since July 1.
Dela Rosa earlier said DUIs should not be automatically regarded as extrajudicial killings and drug-related, and lumped with the number of drug suspects killed in legitimate police operations.
He said the PNP’s initial study indicated that only about one-third of DUIs involved illegal drug activities.