Antidrug War goes on; 4 dead

Even as critics hail the suspension of the antinarcotics operations, the war on drugs appears to be continuing, leaving at least four dead and 62 arrested over the past two days.

On the day the Philippine National Police announced the suspension, a holdup man on a barangay drug watch list was shot dead by unidentified men in Pasig City and 12 men involved in illegal drugs were arrested in Marikina City.

These were the only drug-related arrests and death recorded by the Eastern Police District (EPD) from Monday evening to Tuesday morning.

7,600 deaths so far

Apparently unaware of the EPD report, radio stations, which routinely cover drug killings, said there were no reports of any deaths in what appeared to be a rare bloodless night on Monday.

More than 7,600 people, mostly users and small-time dealers, have been killed since President Duterte took office at the end of June, vowing to crack down on drugs.

Human rights groups said extrajudicial killings were frequent, as were “hits” by assassins they said were linked to police. The PNP and Mr. Duterte vehemently refuted that.

Between 6 a.m. on Monday and 6 a.m. on Tuesday, lawmen conducted 96 antidrug operations throughout the country, the PNP said on Tuesday.

The operations were the last conducted by PNP following the announcement of the suspension of the antidrug drive.

The PNP statistics showed 43,593 antidrug operations from July 1 to 6 a.m. on Tuesday compared with the 43,497 conducted as of 6 a.m. on Monday.

The PNP chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, announced a temporary halt to antidrug operations on Monday to rid the ranks of “scalawags” after Mr. Duterte lambasted the PNP on Sunday for the kidnap-slay of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo by rogue officers.

Miss Universe effect

Asked about initial reports that there were few drug suspects killed by the police or by alleged vigilantes in the past 24 hours, Dela Rosa said the vigilantes simply stopped doing their rounds because they knew the police would be able to focus on them.

The PNP public information office head, Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, said the few deaths on Monday until early on Tuesday could also be attributed to the festivities surrounding the Miss Universe pageant.

Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo said the EPD had yet to receive a written directive from the PNP, but added that it had started following the President’s orders by refocusing the responsibilities of members of the district.

“We will focus on serving arrest warrants and our anti-criminality operations,” Ocampo said. “Arrests will be coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority. There will be no buy-busts operations,” De Ocampo said. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEROME ANING AND DJ YAP