War on drugs Philippines: PDEA reported up to 5,552 drug personalities have been killed in the government’s anti-drug war operations while up to 220,728 were arrested.
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), such drug personalities were killed in 151,601 anti-illegal drug operations from July 1, 2016, to November 30, 2019.
PDEA operatives meanwhile destroyed a total of 433 drug dens at clandestine laboratories.
Of the 42,045 barangays, 16,706 were declared cleaned of drugs while another 17,175 were yet to be cleared.
The PDEA also said that 726 government employees were involved in the drug operation, 347 were government employees, 297 were elected officials, and 82 uniformed personnel.
To date, P40.39 billion worth of illegal drugs have been seized. Most of it was shabu amounting to 5,183 kilograms worth P31.25 million.
Meanwhile, 8,185 high-value targets have been identified.
Also read: PDEA suspects Chinese looking divers in Bicol, Caraga region looking for floating cocaine
War on drugs in the Philippines
The Philippine Drug War refers to the drug policy of the Philippine government under President Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, 2016. According to former Philippine National Police Chief Ronald de la Rosa, the policy is aimed at “the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide.”
Duterte’s war on drugs did not only caught the attention of drug personalities but also the world. Many applauded the Duterte’s aggressive campaign to eradicate illegal drugs in the country.
However, numerous human rights groups criticized the president’s alleged extra-judicial killing.
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution) is the killing of a person by governmental authorities or individuals without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process.
In September, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Chito Gascon said the war on drugs’ death toll could be as high as 27,000. He also said CHR is investigating 1,500 cases in the drug war.
Last month, Duterte appointed and then fired one of his war on drugs critics VP Leni Robredo as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).