PCOO insists gov't drug war death numbers consistent

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Sunday insisted that the government's official death count from the its war on illegal drugs was consistent, despite a news report claiming otherwise.

"Contrary to Vera Files’ claim that the PCOO has become inconsistent with the #RealNumbers figures it has been releasing as compared to what has been published in the 2017 Year-End Report, the PCOO, along with the PNP, PDEA and the NBI, has, in fact, been consistent with the figures it has been releasing since May 2017," the PCOO said in a statement.

According to the Vera Files, Communications Assistant Secretary Maria Rafael-Banaag contradicted the PCOO's 2017 year-end report when she denied that "tens of thousands have been killed" in the so-called war on drugs.

The PCOO explained that the said year-end report listed just 3,967 illegal drug-related deaths from July 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017.

The other 16,355 deaths were homicide cases under investigation (HCUI) for the period July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.

"May we reiterate that these homicide cases under investigation are not at all related to the anti-illegal drugs campaign. HCUI may have resulted out of road rage, land dispute, business rivalry, family dispute, love triangle, crimes of passion or politics," the PCOO said.

"The PCOO did not contradict anything. If any, Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael only emphasized in her pronouncements what the government has been saying all along: that the numbers external institutions are quoting are computed inaccurately."

The Palace communications office also accused Vera Files of twisting the death count to discredit the Duterte Administration.

According to the #RealNumbers data, 5,489 drug personalities were killed in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to May 31, 2019.

The Philippine National Police, on the other hand, said that 6,600 suspects were killed after they resisted arrest and shot it out with police officers as of the end of May 2019.

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to set up an investigation into the killings in the Philippines linked to the campaign against illegal drugs.

The Palace denounced the Iceland-led resolution, and said that it was "designed to embarrass the Philippines before the international community and the global audience."

President Rodrigo Duterte also criticized the proponents of the probe for not understanding the country's problems with crime and illegal drugs.

"Ano ang problema ng Iceland? Ice lang. That’s your problem. You have too much ice and there is no clear day or night there. Parang alas kwatro ng hapon ang araw pati gabi. So you can understand why there is no crime, there is no policemen either and they just go about eating ice," said Duterte.

"Hindi maintindihan nitong mga p— inang 'to na may problema tayo. The distribution of drugs, the contamination continues today. At hindi na natin mahabol." — Dona Magsino/DVM, GMA News