PNP Says Only 253 Officers Charged For 6,600 Drug Campaign Deaths

Only 253 Police Officers Face Charges For 6,600 Anti-Drug Campaign Deaths Says PNP

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE (PNP) – Only 253 policemen out of 594 are facing criminal liability in connection with President Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

Among the 253 police officers facing criminal liability, only 103 of them have been charged in court. The remaining 150 were subject to investigations.

PNP Says Only 253 Officers Charged For 6,600 Drug Campaign Deaths
Image by: Official Gazette

This was said by the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday during House deliberations for the 2020 budget. The House were going through proposals for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The 253 policemen that face raps for the drug war killings were less than half of the 594 officers tagged with administrative charges. This was based on official records revealed during the budget debates.

According to Inquirer, five policemen went into an amicable settlement with their accusers. Meanwhile, 14 are still being investigated according to the PNP.

Official police records revealed 5,793 people were slain in the anti-drug campaign from July 2016 to July 2019. This was stated by Rep. Alfred Vargas.

PNP Says Only 253 Officers Charged For 6,600 Drug Campaign Deaths
Image by: Viral News PH

This number was less than what was stated in June by PNP chief, Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde. According to him, 6,600 were slain in the anti-drug campaign as of May.

In lieu of this, the PNP was criticized for the discrepancy of their own statistics. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate then stated that the figures presented could not be trusted.

Afterwards, Zarate questioned Vargas on the statistics of the police officers charged for the deaths of drug suspects. He then cited the case inventory of the Internal Affairs Service (IAS).

Vargas clarified this by saying that as of now, the officers are only facing administrative charges. As the inquiry continued, Vargas stated that only 103 had been charged in court.

He then added that the remaining 150 were subject to investigations. Zarate continued to grill Vargas about the PNP manual.

Zarate stated that based on the manual whenever someone is killed during a police operation, there must be an inquest. He continued by questioning the low number of officers brought to inquest amidst all the killings.

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