UP: 28 drug suspects died in January under Marcos

TWENTY-EIGHT people were killed last month under the Marcos government’s war on drugs, with the southern Philippine city of Davao accounting for most deaths, according to a University of the Philippines (UP) report.

Sixteen died in the hands of unidentified killers, nine were killed by police and three by armed civilians, according to the latest report of Dahas Project released by the UP Third World Studies Center on Tuesday.

“Most of those killed had prior drug records.”

UP earlier said 506 drug suspects died under the Marcos government in 2022 and 2023.

It said Davao City, the bailiwick of ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte, had five killings, three of which were high-value suspects killed by police.

National police chief Benjamin C. Acorda, Jr. said the fight against illegal drugs under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. would remain aggressive and transparent.

“We want it to be aggressive but honest,” he told BusinessWorld when sought for comment. “It’s not our intention to kill. We are just implementing the law.”

“If ever we use force, it is within the ambit of the law,” he said in an interview. Mr. Acorda said erring cops would be investigated by the Internal Affairs Service (IAS). “I gave a specific instruction to our IAS to really look into any kind of operations that are done outside [the law].”

Civilians should file a complaint if they think the law was violated, he added.

Dahas earlier noted that 342 drug suspects were killed by police a year into the President’s term.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating Mr. Duterte, 78, for his deadly drug war.

The government estimates that at least 6,117 people were killed in Mr. Duterte’s drug war between July 2016 and May 2022, but domestic and international human rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000.

The ICC probe covers crimes committed in Davao City from November 2011 to June 2016 when he was still its mayor, as well as cases during his presidency up until March 16, 2019, the day before the Philippines withdrew from the ICC.

Last month, Mr. Marcos said ICC investigators may visit the country, but they would not get any help from the government.

“I consider it a threat to our sovereignty. Therefore, the Philippine government will not lift a finger to help any investigation that the ICC conducts,” he said.

That was days before Mr. Duterte attacked his government in a political rally in Davao City on Jan. 28, calling Mr. Marcos a drug addict.

Mr. Marcos fired back by saying his predecessor might still be reeling from the effects of fentanyl use.

Mr. Duterte last week dialed up his attack and threatened to separate Mindanao from the rest of the nation through a signature campaign.

In a statement on Tuesday, Liberal Party spokesperson Leila M. de Lima said Mr. Duterte’s rhetoric “was not motivated by a genuine desire for regional development, but rather a desperate attempt to deflect scrutiny and avoid accountability for his actions during his presidency.”

The ex-President has “a pattern of exploiting divisive tactics for personal gain,” she said, citing his abrupt withdrawal from the ICC in 2018.

“Now, faced with potential legal repercussions, he resurrects the secession issue, a highly sensitive and complex topic, to manipulate public discourse and divert attention.”

Ms. De Lima was released from detention in November last year after a local court granted her request for bail while being tried in a final drug case, which was filed against her along with other charges after she led a Senate inquiry in 2016 into Mr. Duterte’s drug war. —