THE PNP yesterday belied a claim by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that it was underreporting deaths in relation to the war against illegal drugs under the Marcos administration.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo maintained that 46 suspects have died in anti-drug operations since President Marcos Jr. assumed office on June 30, disputing HRW’s figure of 127 deaths.
“We deny claims that the PNP is underreporting (deaths). The PNP has no history of underreporting. In fact, we are transparent in terms of our police operations and even our accomplishments,” said Fajardo.
Last Friday, HRW Deputy Asia director Phil Robertson alleged the PNP is undercounting the number of deaths in the current administration’s fight against illegal drugs.
Robertson claimed there were already 127 deaths in the campaign, from July 1 to November 7, way above the PNP’s tally of 46.
Robertson also lashed out at the PNP for saying 46 deaths in the war on drugs was “very minimal,” saying the statement “smacks of insensitivity and callousness.”
PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said a total of 18,505 anti-drug operations have been conducted throughout the country since Marcos became president.
Azurin said these operations resulted in the death of 46 suspects who fought it out with lawmen, the arrest of 22,646 others, and the seizure of P9.7 billion worth of illegal drugs.
Responding to the allegation of Robertson, Fajardo said: “We don’t know where they (HRW) got their data.
“Again, on the part of the PNP, we are transparent and we can open to the public our data if needed to prove we are not hiding anything,” Fajardo also said.
Fajardo said results of police operations are immediately recorded on the data system of the PNP “and it will be very difficult to change that (figures) because it’s already in the system of the PNP.”
The Marcos administration has vowed to sustain the intensity of the war on drugs of the previous Duterte administration while focusing on the rehabilitation of drug dependents.
The largest drug haul in a single operation so far under the Marcos administration was 990 kilos of shabu worth P6.7 billion. It was seized during a raid of a money lending firm in Manila last October 8.
A PNP Drug Enforcement Group operative, Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr., who owns the firm, was arrested with two kilos of shabu during a follow-operation in Manila.
Police seized P238,000 worth of suspected dangerous drugs and arrested six persons during a buy-bust operation in Cainta, Rizal past midnight yesterday.
Col. Dominic Baccay, Rizal PNP provincial director, identified the six as Rose Ann Lerit, 25; Rey Anthony Yadao, 40; Venus Piala, 52, residents of Marikina City; Jessie Felicio, 52, of Antipolo; Darryl Bejerano, 28; and Bienvenido Bejerano Jr., 54, both of Cainta, Rizal.
Seized from them were 13 sachets containing more or less 35 grams of suspected shabu. — With Christian Oineza
