Three Years After: Duterte‘s drug war

It has been three years since the Philippine government launched its stiff campaign against illegal drugs and local and international critics continue to express alarm over the growing number of deaths amid the anti-illegal drugs operations.

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte had promised that his campaign against narcotics would be "relentless" and "chilling."

"The illegal drugs war will not be sidelined. Instead it will be as relentless and chilling, if you will, as on the day it began," Duterte said during his third SONA before a joint session of Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

"These drug dealers know fully well that their business is against the law. They know the consequences of their criminal acts, especially when caught in flagrante delicto and they violently resist arrest. They know that illegal drugs waste away lives, dysfunctionalize families, and ruin relationships," he added.

The police has said that its men will heed the Chief Executive's call of continuing the controversial war against illegal drugs. Amid criticisms, Police General Oscar Albayalde has insisted that police operations amid the drug war are always within the bounds of the Philippine law.

Data from the police showed that a total of 6,600 suspected drug personalities were killed from July 1, 2016 to May 2019. More than 240,565 drug suspects, meanwhile, have been arrested during police operations.

But latest government data read by Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael on Thursday showed that a total of 5,526 drug had been killed in 134,583 drug operations conducted from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019.

Authorities said the conflicting figures came after they vetted the one earlier provided by the police. 

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported that a total of 12,099 barangays have already been declared drug-free while the number of drug-free jail facilities already reached 172.

The DILG also mentioned a total of 1.3 million drug surrenderers, with DILG chief Eduardo Año saying that the government finds more meaningful success in its drug war "in seeing former pushers and users entrust their future to us through our rehabilitation programs."

The government's data on the drug war deaths is way too far from the number being cited by local and international human rights groups that the war on illegal drugs has resulted in the deaths of more than 20,000 individuals.

Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) passed a resolution which seeks investigation on the slays blamed on Duterte's war against illegal drugs.

The Philippine government described the UNHCR's move as "offensive" and "insulting" to the majority of Filipinos who support Duterte's "unique" leadership style.

The nation's top cop has dared the international body to show to the local police the list of names of the more than 20,000 individuals killed in the drug war. Albayalde said the Philippine National Police would be very much willing to investigate it. — RSJ, GMA News