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Over 7,000 drug-related killings as of Dec. 2018 —Ateneo Policy Center



The Ateneo Policy Center has recorded more than 7,000 drug-related killings since the Duterte administration began until the end of 2018.

Independent from government figures, the academics' database now has information on 7,029 killings occurring from May 10, 2016 up to December 31, 2018, said Jenna Atun, a researcher with the Ateneo School of Government, at a Friday forum.

"While this number is just a fraction of the total killings estimated by various groups, the data allow us to examine and investigate some patterns in the killings," a briefer on the updated data states. 

On the other hand, the government's count as of last March 27 reached 5,281 deaths of suspected drug personalities during operations from July 1, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2019.

The Ateneo Policy Center first recorded 5,021 reported killings associated with the Duterte administration's anti-illegal drug campaign during the launch of the database in June 2018.

This time, the center found that the killings were, overall, most rampant in the National Capital Region (NCR), with 2,475 reported deaths that were largely concentrated in Manila, Quezon City, and Caloocan. Outside the NCR, Bulacan had the most reported number of killings at 937, followed by Cebu with 542.

"By 2018, killings in NCR accounted for only 16 percent of the total. They had become more rampant in Calabarzon (387) and Central Luzon (372) than in NCR (249)," the updated database stated.

Most of the reported killings -- 4,152 people or 59 percent of the total -- involved police operations, while 2,469 individuals or 35 percent were "killed by assailant." A relatively small fraction, 402 people making up 5.7 percent, consisted of bodies discovered or found. 

Six of the more than 7,000 cases cannot be categorized, the center said.

Meanwhile, 47 percent of those killed were identified as drug pushers, 7.1 percent were tagged as drug users or addicts, 0.9 percent as drug couriers or runners, while 2.8 percent were said to be drug lords, protectors, narco-politicians, or police, it said.

The illegal drug involvement of 38 percent of those killed was not specifically identified, the center said, while that of another nine percent was not mentioned.

The database also states that a total of 1,561 people, or 22 percent of those killed, were allegedly named in a drug watchlist; 51 percent of those were killed in police operations.

Another 656 people, or 9.3 percent of the total killings, reportedly surrendered in Oplan Tokhang and 68 percent of them were killed by assailants, it added. —LDF, GMA News

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