DOJ: 19 cases linked to illegal drugs drive filed in courts

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed 19 criminal cases in various courts in connection with deaths stemming from the administration's bloody crackdown on the illegal drug trade.

Data released by the DOJ on Friday showed that of the 19 murder and homicide cases, 13 involve the killing of alleged drug users or traffickers during legitimate law enforcement operations while six killings were committed "outside of legitimate police/law enforcement operations."

By region, nine cases were filed before courts in Metro Manila, four each in Calabarzon/Mimaropa and Bicol and one each in Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao.

Overall, the DOJ's National Prosecution Service received 71 murder and homicide complaints from July 1, 2016 to August 22, 2017.

Of the 71 complaints, 45 stemmed from legitimate law enforcement operations while 26 were from outside legitimate operations.

Nineteen of the complaints have since been forwarded to the courts for trial, 17 are still pending resolution, and 35 have been dismissed.

The DOJ did not receive complaints involving deaths during alleged shootouts with police in the Duterte administration's drug war.

The release of the data came amid public outrage over the deaths of 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos and former University of the Philippines student Carl Angelo Arnaiz at the hands of policemen.

Malacañang and the Philippine National Police have repeatedly denied allegations of state-sanctioned killings which the watchdog Amnesty International said could be considered as crimes against humanity. — RSJ/KVD, GMA News