Where did the 7,000 figure of drug killings come from?
The Philippine National Police (PNP) wants to correct Vice President Leni Robredo and others claiming in media reports that the 7,000 deaths were all related to illegal drugs.
Only a few percentages of the 7,000 deaths were committed by the police in legitimate drug operations, PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos pointed out.
In a recorded video message, Robredo expressed her strong opposition to the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs, noting that more than 7,000 have become victims of extrajudicial killings since the campaign started in July.
Robredo’s message will be shown at the forum organized by the Washington-based Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) for the 60th United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting on Thursday at the Vienna International Center in Austria.
“Binanggit doon sa video na pinagbasehan ‘yung 7,000 summary killings. Where did we get that figure?” Carlos said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
(It was mentioned in the video that there were 7,000 summary killings.)
Based on PNP data, only 2,582 were killed in legitimate drug operations.
Meanwhile, the PNP recorded 4,049 “deaths under investigation.” Only 682 were found to be drug-related. “The rest are regular crimes happening on the street,” he said.
“Sana ho itama ‘yung pagbibigay ng basis… Hindi ‘yung we float the numbers and then make it appear it is the general situation,” Carlos said.
(We’re hoping it will be corrected and showing their basis…)