PNP welcomes UN rights chief remark on drug war death toll

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday welcomed the statement of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who said that the government's official drug war death toll was concerning.

"We welcome the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ acknowledgement of the real numbers in the anti-illegal drugs campaign that is being waged by the Philippine government, mainly thru the efforts of the National Police," PNP spokesman Police Colonel Bernard Banac said in a statement.

Banac, however, pointed out that the the varying numbers reported to the UN by the special rapporteurs and its other sources were not consistent with truth.

"Their bloated figures don’t add up and cannot support any further need of the UN body to see the true and accurate picture of the Philippines’ lonely crusade against the global problem of illegal drugs," Banac said.

Banac reiterated that the police operations in the fight against illegal drugs had been "generally above board, based on lawful orders, and judiciously conducted within the ambit of regular police procedures."

He noted that respect for human rights was deeply embedded in all police operations.

"If at all any irregularity had been found, these were immediately investigated and corrected with punitive action against the errant police personnel," Banac said.

Data from the PNP showed that the number of drug suspects killed while resisting arrest in police drugs operations was 6,600 as of the end of May 2019.

Bachelet said that even these number of deaths, much smaller than figures suggested by human rights groups, "would be a matter of most serious concern for any country."

She was thus monitoring the situation of human rights in the Philippines and the controversial anti-drug campaign.

Bachelet also suggested that transparency on information and investigations on supposed human rights violations were needed to "dispel any false allegations and help regain trust for the authorities." — Anna Felicia Bajo/DVM, GMA News