Karapatan: Tokhang relaunch a ‘superficial makeover’ of ineffective drug war

MANILA, Philippines — The relaunch of Oplan Tokhang only showed there were flaws in the implementation of the government’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, a rights group said Tuesday.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay called the “new” Oplan Tokhang a “superficial makeover of a policy that has earned public condemnation.”

On Monday, the police resumed the controversial anti-drug campaign.

“The relaunch of the police and Duterte administration’s Oplan Tokhang, after being suspended twice in 2017, is a tacit admission that there is something fundamentally wrong with these policies regarding the drug war,” she said.

Palabay added: “Yet here is Duterte and his Philippine National Police again trying to shove what the Filipino people have already spewed out.”

She noted the fact that the memorandum bringing back the PNP in the conduct of the drug war mentioned a notable resurgence in illegal drug activities proved that Oplan Tokhang and Oplan Double Barrel have been “ineffective.”

“The entire campaign has snowballed into a display of blatant lies, police brutality, injustice and the seemingly endless pit of drug trade. This is precisely because such a short-sighted solution will inevitably fail to solve a comprehensive, deep-rooted problem,” Palabay said.

The activist leader, moreover, stressed that the PNP’s “gentler” anti-drug campaign will not succeed as long as there are corrupt cops.

“It doesn’t matter if operations are only between 8 am to 5 pm if you have a corrupt police force who disrespects human rights and considers themselves above the law. Violations are inevitable regardless of the time,” Palabay said.

She added: “To claim that this campaign is in adherence to the rule of law and respect for human rights is laughable. How many policemen have escaped accountability? How many are emboldened to murder the poor with a free pass?”

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa said that police operations would be “less violent” this time, but he could not fully commit that the measure would stop the bloodshed.

"Tokhang", a portmanteau for the Bisaya words for "knock and plead", was launched in 2016 as a campaign to ask suspected drug personalities to surrender to authorities for rehabilitation to avoid arrest.

Oplan Tokhang was suspended earlier following reports of summary killings and other abuses allegedly committed by police officers.

The police force was brought back into the fold of the drug war in December 2017 to support the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which is the lead office in the campaign.

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