Anti-drug campaign emphasizes respect for human rights, PNP spox says

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday maintained that its police operational procedures give importance and respect to human rights.

“The police operational procedures set the rules of engagement that police should observe when conducting drug operations with emphasis on respect for human rights,” PNP spokesman Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac said in a statement.

This came following a result of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey saying that 76% of Filipinos believe the government’s campaign against illegal drugs is marred by human rights abuses.

Banac noted that the police could not help but be accused of human rights violations because they are engaged in law enforcement operations that often make them in “direct confrontation” with criminals who usually evade arrest.

“This is why 55 police personnel have died and hundreds more have been wounded on anti-drug operations,” Banac said.

The PNP spokesman also said the 82% of Filipinos who were satisfied with the anti-narcotics campaign, according to previous survey, must be noted too.

The latest survey showed that only 24% of Filipinos believe that there were few human rights abuses in the drug war.

Police data have shown that more than 6,700 suspected drug personalities were killed since the campaign against illegal drugs started in 2016.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war caught not only the attention of local human rights groups but also international human rights advocates. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News