Tindig Pilipinas: Killings continue even with PDEA leading drug war

Cause-oriented group Tindig Pilipinas on Sunday said that drug killings are continuing even after President Rodrigo Duterte tasked the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to lead the government's campaign against illegal drugs.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Tindig Pilipinas convener and former Civil Service Commission chairperson Karina Constantino-David said that the policy of drug war was not clarified.

"Hindi pa rin po eh, kasi yung polisiya ay drug war, nung nilipat sa PDEA, nilipat lang pero hindi pa maliwanag kung ano yung bagong polisiya kung meron man," David said when asked if the killings had stopped since the PDEA took over.

"Pero meron pa ring mga patayan na nangyayari mula nung nilipat sa PDEA," she added.

Duterte on October 10 signed a memorandum making the PDEA the "sole agency" conducting anti-illegal drugs operations.

David said that it was "unbelievable" that the thousands of killings in the year and a half since Duterte took power are being investigated.

"Ang problema kasi wala pa pong naiimbestigahan na maayos maliban doon kay Kian [delos Santos], pero yung libo-libong pinatay na nanlaban daw sabi ng pulis o kaya ng mga vigilante na 'yung iba dyan ay napatunayan din na mga pulis na nakasibilyan o hanggang ngayon ay under investigation," she said.

"Parang hindi kapani-paniwala na pagkatapos ng isang taon at kalahati ay 'yung libo-libong kaso ay under investigation. Pero hindi po 'yun ang importante, eh bagamat kailangan nating imbestigahin, ang importante eh ano nga ba ang polisiya, ang polisiya ba ay dalhin sa Nueva Ecija yung 10,000 ay hanggang ngayon eh wala pa atang isang libo ang naroroon o magkaroon talaga ng mga community-based rehabilitation centers at baguhin ang pananaw sa usapin ng droga," she added.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines along with multi-sectoral organizations such as Tindig Pilipinas, Layko, Kaya Natin Youth, and Youth Resist will hold a 33-day series of religious activities that started with a mass at EDSA Shrine on November 5, Sunday.

The 33-day period of religious activities is meant to amplify their call to stop the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country. — Marlly Rome Bondoc/BM, GMA News