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.