Aquino says PDEA killed only 3 drug suspects in his first 100 days

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino on Monday reported that only three drug suspects were killed in the agency's more than 3,000 operations during his first 100 days.

Aquino said in an interview on GMA's Bawal Ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie that during his first 100 days, the PDEA was able to arrest 1,321 drug suspects, including 331 high-value targets, in a total of 3,476 operations.

The retired police official took over the PDEA in September 12, replacing now Customs chief Isidro Lapeña. Nearly a month after taking over, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the agency to lead his war on drugs, taking over from the Philippine National Police.

From September 12, 2017 to December 20, 2017, the PDEA was also able to file 2,063 drug cases.

Aquino had promised to lead a “less bloody” war on drugs.

He said the PDEA was able to achieve this despite having only 1,274 agents nationwide.

Aquino said the PDEA was able to minimize deaths during operations by making sure its operatives wear body cameras. He said he also enforced other means to ensure transparency in operations.

“I told my agents to wear always body cams. Secondly, we ask the media to join us at the very start of the operation until the end,” he said.

“Actually, [the police] are [asking] media to join the operations, to witness the operations [pero] sa operations lang. Unlike us, from the very start of case build-up until the end kasama sila,” he added.

He said that all three drug suspects killed during the three-month period since he took over the PDEA fought back at their agents.

"Nanlaban talaga," Aquino said.

Clamor for PNP

Two months after being ordered to stop anti-drugs operations, Duterte ordered the PNP to rejoin the war on drugs, but only as a support agency to the PDEA.

Duterte said the PNP was ordered to rejoin the war on drugs due to "public clamor."

Aquino said during the interview that the "clamor" came from barangay officials asking for the help of the police force in handling drug suspects.

The PDEA director admitted that the agency is nothing compared to the police force, which is more than 100,000-strong. He cited that in Nueva Ecija, which has 32 municipalities, the PDEA only has three operatives.

He admitted that PDEA agents are not always available to join the police in street-level operations. —Margaret Claire Layug/ALG, GMA News