Killings continue sans PNP in anti-drug war—says De Lima

Sen. Leila de Lima INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON

Even without the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) direct participation, the drug-related killings continued in the government’s brutal crackdown on the narcotics trade, according to Senator Leila de Lima.

De Lima on Friday dismissed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to reinstate the PNP into the government’s anti-drug campaign, saying that the number of deaths will only continue to rise.

Duterte on Tuesday, Dec. 5, signed a memorandum circular ordering the PNP and other law enforcement agencies to participate in the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s (PDEA) anti-drug operations, according to his spokesman Harry Roque.
READ: Duterte orders PNP back to drug war

“Alam na natin kung ano ang ibig sabihin niyan. Pero kahit wala sila, di ba di naman nahinto ang patayan, discreet lang,” De Lima said on the sidelines of her trial for drug charges at the Muntinlupa regional trial court (RTC) Branch 206.

(We already know what it means. Even without them [PNP], killings did not actually stop, only discreet.)

De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame as she faces trial for conspiracy to sell illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

She formerly led the Senate justice committee to investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings linked to the administration’s bloody drug war.

“Sabi ni Duterte, increase body count. Ibig sabihin, more killings o patayan,” the senator said. /jpv

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