Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 9) — The death toll in the government’s anti-illegal drugs operations since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016 has risen to 6,215 as of October 2021, data recently released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showed.
The latest count reflects an additional14 drug suspects killed since the end of September, when the tally showed 6,201 fatalities.
A total of 315,635 suspects were also arrested in 218,665 drug war operations from July 1,2016 to Oct. 31, 2021, PDEA said.
Of the arrested suspects, 13,821 were high value targets, it added. Among them were 349 foreign nationals, 393 elected officials, 124 uniformed personnel, 509 government employees, 3,785 target listed suspects, 795 drug group leaders and members, 75 armed group members, 1,422 drug den maintainers, 284 wanted listed, 24 celebrity and license holders, and 6,061 others arrested in high-impact operations.
PDEA added that 23,270 out of 42,045 barangays have been cleared out of drugs. Meanwhile, 12,125 other barangays have yet to be cleared by authorities.
A total of 994 drug dens and clandestine laboratories were also dismantled, PDEA said.
Government data also showed authorities were able to seize P73.83 billion worth of illegal drugs and laboratory equipment. Among the illegal drugs confiscated were shabu, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana.
The International Criminal Court on November 19 said it was temporarily suspending its probe into the Duterte administration’s war on drug following a request from the Philippine government. But the prosecution said that analysis of information already collected will continue.
In a decision released in September authorizing the start of the investigation, the ICC’s pre-trial chamber said it found reasonable basis to proceed with the investigation in relation to the crime against humanity of murder during the drug war from July 1, 2016 to March 16, 2019 — prior to the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute which established the ICC. The Prosecutor estimated that the number of civilians killed in the campaign ranged from 12,000 to 30,000 within that period.
The Duterte administration has reiterated that it will not cooperate with ICC’s investigation, saying the court has no jurisdiction over the country.
