A quarter of Philippine villages drug-affected, says PNP chief
AT LEAST 11,321, or 27%, of the country’s 42,036 barangays are affected by illegal drugs, Philippine National Police Director- General Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa said Tuesday, illustrating the extent of the problem the government is working to solve.
In his presentation before the Senate hearing into the mounting number of deaths in the course of government’s war on drugs, Mr. dela Rosa said Metro Manila had the most number of affected barangays, “1,611 or 94% out of 1,706,” with only 98 considered drug-free.
Region 4- A or Calabarzon, had 3,011 drug- affected barangays, or 75% of the 1,007 villages, while in Region 3, or Central Luzon, only 21%, or 656 barangays, are drug- free as opposed to 2,446 affected villages, Mr. dela Rosa added.
Nevertheless, he stressed that the PNP has been making headway, at the same time, driving the crime volume down.
In July this year, he noted, the index crime volume went down by 31% to 11,800 from 17,105 in the same month last year.
As of Tuesday, he said, the PNP’s house-to-house campaign to convince so-called “drug personalities” to turn themselves in to authorities has led to 673,978 persons — 629,139 users and 44,839 pushers — to present themselves to police stations for processing and clearing.
Aside from this, 11,784 suspects — 4,947 users and 6,837 pushers — have been arrested while 756 have been killed in “legitimate police operations.”
At the same time, Mr. dela Rosa stressed that law enforcers face risks in the war on drugs, saying nine police personnel have been killed and 18 wounded, and three soldiers died and eight were injured, in anti-narcotics operations since July 1. On the other hand, the war on drugs has also paved the way for the PNP to cleanse its ranks, with 74 officers testing positive for drug use since July 1, compared to the 56 from Jan. 1 to June 30.
Of 301 police personnel on the PNP watch list, he said, 11 have been killed, seven slapped with criminal charges, six facing administrative cases, 20 arrested, and 26 surrendered, among others.