However on Monday, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee investigating extra-judicial killings that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed during police operations.
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Region 4-A or Calabarzon, had 3,011 drug-affected barangays, or 75 percent of the 1,007 villages, while in Region 3, or Central Luzon, only 21 percent, or 656 barangays, are drug-free as opposed to 2,446 affected villages, Dela Rosa added.
Supt. Nolasco Bathan, Officer in Charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the public hearing on risky drugs and alleged extrajudicial killings on Monday (Aug. 22, 2016) at the Senate in Pasay City.
The PNP’s Oplan Double Barrel aims to clear all drug affected barangays nationwide from illegal drugs personalities and dismantle drug syndicates. Aquino had earlier said that her parents, admitted drug pushers, died in the hands of cops also involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Dela Rosa was also grilled by Senator Antonio Trillanes about the police department’s response to the 1,160 drug-related killings, many of which have been attributed to vigilantes, which have occurred since the beginning of July.
Looking exasperated, dela Rosa said that if only President Rodrigo Duterte would ask the PNP to stop its anti-drug campaign, they would.
The war on drugs has widespread support in the country, with Duterte enjoying a 91% approval rating at the end of July, largely on the back of his hard line on drug crime.
“The United States believes in the rule of law, due process, and respect for universal human rights, and that these principles promote long-term security”, U.S. Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said. “He has declared the soaring number of killings of alleged criminal suspects as proof of the “success” of his anti-drug campaign and urged police to ‘seize the momentum, ‘” Kine said.
“We are not butchers”, he said.
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the president, started a two-day congressional inquiry into the killings on Monday, questioning top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the “unprecedented” rise in killings.
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Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte, 71, said the country could leave the United Nations after he criticised the organisation when it called for an end for the killings of drug traffickers.
