Cops pin over 3K deaths on drug industry rivalry
Cops pin over 3K deaths on drug industry rivalry
SUSPECTED drug personalities were killed mostly by their own kind, a high-ranking police official of Camp Crame said, and all these deaths are being investigated.
Director Augusto Marquez Jr. said there is not enough evidence to label the deaths of suspected pushers as extra-judicial killings (EJK).
“We have more than 3,000 murder cases. I don’t call it EJK
kasi wa may (there’s no such thing as a) judicial killing. So, all of these are murder cases or homicide, depending on the situation,” he told reporters yesterday.
Marquez said that the police are still investigating more than 100 officers formerly assigned to the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Central Visayas, for allegedly protecting drug personalities.
The official added it is hard to prove their involvement because investigators lack evidence and witnesses.
Drug groups, said Marquez, are cleaning their own ranks for fear that some of their members would squeal to the law enforcers pursuing an aggressive campaign against drugs.
219 so far
“If I know someone who is deeply involved in illegal drugs, I would kill him,” said Marquez, chief of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM).
The official further said, “Kining nakit-an na diha sa kalsada nga naka- wrap in tape nga morag mummy naa’y nakabutang ‘Wag tu
laran, pusher ako” obviously, these are murder cases (Obviously, those found on the streets with their faces wrapped in tape like mummies and the signs marked ‘I am a pusher. Don’t be like me’ were murdered).”
In Central Visayas, at least 219 suspected drug personalities were killed by unidentified attackers from July 1 until yesterday. Most of the culprits rode motorcycles.
Legitimate operations killed 149 alleged pushers, who resisted arrest by engaging the police in a shootout.
Chief Insp. Dexter Calacar, the PRO 7 information officer, said they arrested 4,306 pushers, while some 91,856 drug personalities surrendered from July 1 until Dec. 8.
Police seized P99 million worth of illegal drugs in the past five months.
Shot in Catmon
In Barangay Catmondaan, Catmon, Macaas Barangay Councilman Keith Boter Colonia, 43, was shot and killed by two unidentified men riding a motorbike.
The victim was jogging along the national highway when the attack happened past 9 p.m. last Wednesday. Investigators are looking into the possibility the attack was drug-related.
Marquez admitted the investigators’ hands are full, but they were able to solve 350 cases and arrested some of the suspects.
About 200 criminal charges were filed against suspects who are still at large.
The Philippine National Police is also going after officers who committed violations in going after drug suspects. More than five officers were arrested and charged in Luzon.
“Tanang makita nga naa’y patay, be it committed by police officers during their operations, imbestigahan gyod na, dili mahimong
dili (All these deaths are being investigated, whether or not these happened during police operations),” said Marquez.
‘Good faith’
Meanwhile, PRO Central Visayas Director Noli Taliño said that the police will stop Oplan Tokhang only if there is an order from the national headquarters.
The Senate committee on justice and human rights, chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, recently criticized the program as unconstitutional.
But Taliño said that Oplan Tokhang, so far, has helped the police in persuading drug personalities to surrender and encouraged the public to report the presence of drug trade in their community.
“Sa atin naman kung good faith yung pagtotokhang ng ating mga tao at kumakatok na man sila,”
he said. “Hindi sila pumapasok na walang pahintulot. Kung pinapasok ang pulis natin, okey. Kung hindi, doon sila sa labas, doon sila maguusap sa may-ari ng bahay (We are doing this in good faith. Officers don’t just enter people’s houses without any permission).”
“Tokhang” is a combination of two Visayan words “tuktok (knock)” and “hangyo (request).”
The program started in Davao City when President Rodrigo Duterte was still the mayor and Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa was the police chief. Officers literally knocked on the doors of suspected drug users and dealers to persuade them to stop using or selling drugs.