PNP chief: Drug surrenderees will be 'taken care of' at recovery facilities for drug war 'finale'
MANILA, Philippines — The Duterte administration's flagship anti-narcotics campaign will see changes in its final stretch as it looks to focus on the recovery of drug suspects, the chief of the Philippine National Police said Monday.
Speaking in an interview aired over CNN Philippines' "The Source," Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos said that for instance, drug users will be taken care of if they surrender to authorities.
According to Real Numbers PH, the Presidential Communications Operations Office's centralized report on drug war numbers, some 12,254 barangays in the country have yet to be cleared of illegal drugs.
"That's why we're reviving our recovery programs in the different barangays as the situation allows," he said, adding that the previous initiative was derailed by coronavirus restrictions earlier.
"We will do a little tweaking on the current version, but at the end of the day we want to end this administration the best way we can for our anti-drug campaign."
Asked about his rehabilitation plan under the war on drugs, Carlos said: "The lockdown is easing up, so we can go back to putting up these recovery facilities to take care of surrenderees."
Official police data acknowledge over 6,100 deaths in official anti-drug operations. But rights groups both here and abroad say that the true death toll may be as high as 30,000.
Despite government claims of gains in the war on drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that crystal methamphetamines or shabu are still behind the most arrest and treatment admissions in the Philippines.
At his change of command ceremony, Carlos said that Oplan Double Barrel, the PNP's flagship project in the administration's "war against drugs", will continue during his term as it sees its "2022 finale."
"I said for this administration, will do a Double Barrell Finale Version 2022...it started with the coordination with the [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] to avoid misencounter," Carlos said.
"This is more on reaching out to the victims or the addicts to recover. We have a strong presence in the barangays through the [Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council]s and the police will be there. Our tasked units, [Police Drug Enforcement Group] and other [Drug Enforcement Unit]s, will be the ones to do the intelligence based on the operations against illegal drugs," he also said in a radio interview earlier this week.
Reuters wins Pulitzers, the most prestigious awards in American journalism, in international reporting for its story on the methods of police killing squads in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and for feature photography documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
In covering the deadly drug war in the Philippines, Reuters reporters Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato "demonstrated how police in the president’s 'drug war' have killed with impunity and consistently been shielded from prosecution," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler says.
Sen. Francis Tolentino says he has agreed to serve as legal counsel for Sen. Bato dela Rosa before the International Criminal Court. — Xave Gregorio
Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa says he is “not worried” of the ICC’s resumption of investigation into the brutal war on drugs.
The Commission on Human Rights welcomes the verdict of a Caloocan court that convicted police officer Jeffrey Perez of torture and planting of evidence in the killings of teenagers Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.
"The Commission hopes that more cases similar to Carl and Kulot will reach the courts," the government agency says in a statement.
"We hope that more eye witnesses will step forth and feel encouraged to help progress the thousands of drug-related killings still pending investigations and trials," it adds.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' work on the Philippines "is far from done" as victims of the bloody "war on drugs" continue to seek accountability and justice, the Human Rights Watch says.
"The Human Rights Council should adopt OHCHR’s recommendation that the high commissioner’s office continue to monitor and regularly report on the country’s rights situation," Carlos Conde, the senior researcher for Asia Division of the HRW, says in a statement.
"There’s no short-term solution to making real progress on accountability and providing justice for people in the Philippines," he adds.
Gabriela Women's Party supports the request of International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan to resume probe on President Duterte's drug war killings. — The STAR/Sheila Crisostomo
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