Gov't: 119,361 'drug personalities' nabbed, 3,987 killed in drug war

This file photo taken on May 18, 2017, shows police officers investigating an alleged drug dealer killed by unidentified gunman in Manila. The PNP said 3,987 have "died in police operations" from July 1, 2016 to Jan. 17, 2018, suggesting these are drug suspects who engaged arresting officers in shootouts. AFP/Noel Celis

MANILA, Philippines — There have been 6,309 drug-related deaths from July 1, 2016 to Jan. 17, 2018, the government said on Monday.

The latest data release is up by 74 deaths against police data released last September.

According to Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management released at the #RealNumbersPH briefing at the Palace on Monday, there have been 2,235 "drug-related incidents or cases" among homicide cases under investigation.

Government releases new set of #RealNumbersPH data | @alexisbromero pic.twitter.com/B56mguLBYm

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) January 22, 2018

Of those, 413 have already been solved, while 1,822 cases are still pending resolution.

The PNP said last September that there had been 2,290 "drug-related deaths" among deaths listed as homicide under investigation. The latest figure is also slightly lower than the earlier report that covered the period of July 1, 2016 to Sept. 16, 2017.

READ: PNP: 6,225 drug-related deaths since July 2016

There have also been 3,987 drug personalities killed in anti-drug operations. This is an increase of 85 deaths since last September, when the police said that 3,850 had "died during police operations."

Meanwhile, the authorities have arrested 119,361 drug personalities in 81,919 anti-drug operations they conducted in the last 18 months and a half of the government's drug war.

Government data also said 87 security personnel have been killed in action during the period. Another 226 have been wounded in operations.

The #RealNumbersPH campaign was launched in May 2017 to give the public what the government says is accurate data on the war on drugs.

READ: 'Real numbers' contradict new Duterte claim on police casualties

Drug cases in courts

The Department of Justice meanwhile said that the agency has received 96,943 cases between July 2016 and September 2017.

Of those cases, 96,242 have been resolved, posting a disposal rate of 98.25 percent. Disposal, according to Justice Undersecretary Reynante Orceo, means that a case has been filed in court. It can also mean a case has been dismissed.

Orceo said that 1,701 cases are still pending with the department.

"These pending cases would involve motions for reconsideration filed at the local prosecutor, and some have reached DOJ for an automatic review; and some of which [have] reached the Supreme Court via petition for certiorari," Orceo added.

According to PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management data in the #RealNumbersPH release,  21,908 cases have been referred to the prosecutors  while 42,182 cases have already reached trial courts.

Another 416 cases remain under investigation.

The Duterte administration's bloody drug war is currently facing two consolidated petitions challenging its constitutionality before the Supreme Court. Some of the cases cited in the case are operations conducted in San Andres Bukid, Manila.

Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier asked the SC to recall its order to submit voluminous police records on the thousands of deaths attributed to the government's war on drugs as they are "are not relevant" to the petition challenging the campaign's constitutionality.

RELATED: Cayetano uses restrictive EJK definition, experts say

 

Show comments