Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 18) — The Philippine National Police said Tuesday the government is halfway through its goal of clearing all barangays in the Philippines of illegal drugs.
Police data show that of 42,000 barangays in the country, 12,177 barangays have been declared drug-free and another 9,397 had no presence of prohibited narcotics even before the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2016.
However, 20,471 of the barangays nationwide have yet to be cleared.
“May kalahati pa tayong dapat ma-accomplish,” PNP Spokesperson PCol. Bernard Banac said. “Ito ay kaya nating gawin in the remaining three years ng ating Pangulo sa pakikipagtulungan ng lahat ng sektor ng ating lipunan.“
[Translation: We still have half of the number of barangays to accomplish. We can do this in the remaining three years of the Duterte presidency through the help of all sectors of our society.]
Metro Manila still has the highest percentage of drug-affected barangays at 88.6%, followed by Central Visayas (76.36%), Central Luzon (75.5%), and Bicol Region (72.89%). Cordillera has the lowest number of drug affected barangays (6.2%).
Duterte had promised to end the proliferation of illegal drugs in the Philippines during the first three to six months of his term, but he extended his deadline to 2022 after pinning the blame on corrupt public officials.
More than 6,000 deaths
The PNP also reported that 6,600 drug suspects were killed during police operations from July 1, 2016 up to May 31, 2019. These allegedly resisted arrest and fought back.
Figures from human rights groups on the killings related to the Duterte government’s war on drugs have reached as high as 20,000. The conflicting figures have prompted various rapporteurs from the United Nations to look into these deaths.
The number of drug users surrendering has hit 1,530,574 while more than 153,000 drug suspects were arrested.
