PNP chief: 48 cops slain in drug war

The war on drugs has killed 48 police officers and wounded 122 others since 2016 but these were rarely highlighted in debates over President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against drugs and crime, Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde said in Isabela.

During a visit to the wake of Senior Insp. Michael Angelo Tubaña, police chief of Mallig, Isabela, Albayalde said the deaths of policemen “should not be treated as a joke.”

“This is an unfortunate consequence,” he said.

Tubaña was shot and killed by two young men during a drug operation on June 17.

Albayalde’s numbers, however, vastly differed with estimates made by the President, who repeatedly said two to three policemen got killed daily by drug syndicates. Adding up, that would be more than 1,000 policemen killed since 2016.

Albayalde expressed lament that policemen’s deaths were not being mentioned prominently in reports about the drug war.

He said the PNP had been buying bulletproof vests and Kevlar helmets for policemen to use during drug operations. —Villamor Visaya Jr.