The mother of a "drug war" victim holds his portrait in her home in Caloocan City, Philippines,
March 2022. © 2022 Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday sought to downplay recent killings in the so-called “war on drugs,” claiming the death toll since the inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was “very minimal.”
The police reported that 46 people were killed during anti-drug operations since Marcos took office on June 30. But this is far below the estimate of the University of the Philippines’ Third World Studies Center, whose Dahas program monitors “drug war” violence. The program tallied that 127 people were killed in “drug war” incidents from July 1, the day after Marcos was sworn in, to November 7.
Even if one accepts the PNP’s figures, calling this death toll “very minimal” smacks of insensitivity and callousness. Since the anti-drug campaign began seven years ago under then-president Rodrigo Duterte, thousands of families of people gunned down have been crying out for justice.
Over that period, the police have admitted killing more than 6,200 suspected drug users or dealers, mostly impoverished Filipinos. But the PNP has been known to manipulate its statistics on extrajudicial killings related to the campaign. Research by Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups found that police officers routinely plant evidence such as illegal drugs and weapons on the bodies of victims to try to justify their claims that the person had fought back. READ MORE...
The police reported that 46 people were killed during anti-drug operations since Marcos took office on June 30. But this is far below the estimate of the University of the Philippines’ Third World Studies Center, whose Dahas program monitors “drug war” violence. The program tallied that 127 people were killed in “drug war” incidents from July 1, the day after Marcos was sworn in, to November 7.
Even if one accepts the PNP’s figures, calling this death toll “very minimal” smacks of insensitivity and callousness. Since the anti-drug campaign began seven years ago under then-president Rodrigo Duterte, thousands of families of people gunned down have been crying out for justice.
Over that period, the police have admitted killing more than 6,200 suspected drug users or dealers, mostly impoverished Filipinos. But the PNP has been known to manipulate its statistics on extrajudicial killings related to the campaign. Research by Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups found that police officers routinely plant evidence such as illegal drugs and weapons on the bodies of victims to try to justify their claims that the person had fought back. READ MORE...
