(File photo)
MANILA – The "Real Numbers" data being released by the Philippine government is the most accurate source of information on the campaign against illegal drugs in the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Tuesday.
PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon made this comment in response to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) findings saying there is "reasonable basis" to believe that crimes against humanity were committed under President Rodrigo R. Duterte's anti-illegal drug campaign.
"(Dun) tayo maninidigan tayo sa Real Numbers. Kung ano man yung data nila (We would stand by our Real Numbers. Whatever is the data that they have), it should be released (based on) specific incidents, hindi yung (not on) general insinuating statements, that is what (PDEA Director General) Wilkins Villanueva said," Carreon said in a phone interview.
Carreon said that as far as the PDEA is concerned, the agency has performed its duties well.
"As far as PDEA (is) concerned, we performed our duties and if some unfortunate incidents on the ground, we have (our) Internal Affairs (automatically) initiate an investigation on the operatives involved to determine if there (are) any irregularities and if there are such claims of any irregularities. As DG Villanueva said, they (ICC) should not issue statements but instead, they should release their data backed with particular incidents otherwise, maninindigan tayo sa (we would stick to our) 'Real Numbers' " Carreon said.
Earlier, PDEA reported that more than 10,000 high-value targets (HVTs) across the country have been arrested since the start of the Duterte administration's crackdown on illegal drugs in mid-2016.
Based on the latest Real Numbers data, a total of 10,721 HVTs were arrested from July 1, 2016 to Oct. 31, 2020.
A PDEA report showed that the apprehended HVT include 287 foreigners, 362 elected officials, 102 uniformed personnel, 445 government employees, 3,098 target listed individuals, 751 drug group leaders and members, 66 armed group members, 1,035 drug den maintainers, 232 wanted persons, 18 celebrities, and 4,325 arrests from high impact operations.
With the target of a “drug-cleared Philippines’’, PDEA records disclosed that 266,126 drug suspects were nabbed in the 183,525 anti-illegal drug operations conducted during the same period.
The same PDEA report showed that 5,942 suspected drug personalities died in the operations.
The country’s leading anti-illegal drug agency noted that 20,538 out of the country’s 42,045 barangays were already declared drug cleared while 14,308 others are yet to be cleared.
The PDEA data also added that 648 dens and clandestine laboratories have been dismantled.
Some PHP56.26 billion worth of seized drugs and equipment were destroyed during the operations in the said period. Around 7,413.17 kilograms of shabu valued at PHP46.42 billion were also confiscated.
In the same operations, PDEA said 3,418 children involved in the illegal drug trade were rescued.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has reserved further comment on the ICC report.
“The PNP has not officially received that report yet. We refrain from making any comments, if need be, at this point, until we obtain the ICC findings in detail,” PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, told the Philippine News Agency.
According to the "Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2020", ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office opened in February 2018 a preliminary probe into the death of thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers, including those killed for allegedly resisting arrest or reportedly gunned down by law enforcers disguised as vigilantes.
"The Office is satisfied that information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder (article 7(1)(a)), torture (article 7(1)(f)) and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm as other inhumane Acts (article 7(1)(k)) were committed on the territory of the Philippines 48 between at least 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019, in connection to the WoD (War on Drugs) campaign launched throughout the country," Bensouda said in a report released on Tuesday.
It added that its official investigation in the Philippines may start in the first half of 2021.
Only as good as a press release
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson shrugged off the ICC's findings.
“I’m not sure what the ICC prosecutor actually meant by 'reasonable basis to believe'. Under the ICC statute, reasonable grounds to believe is considered as an 'unreasonably unclear evidentiary threshold'," Lacson said in a statement.
"In the realm of possibilities to prosecute the President for crimes against humanity, the statement of Prosecutor Bensouda may only be good as a press release and nothing more, at least at this point in time,” he added.
The Philippines officially withdrew its membership from the ICC on March 17, 2019, or exactly a year after it revoked the Rome Statute, a treaty that created the international court on Nov. 1, 2011.
On Dec. 3, Duterte led the destruction of PHP7.51 billion worth of illegal drugs in Trece Martires City, Cavite.
He urged law enforcement forces to stay vigilant as the war on drugs continues despite the coronavirus disease pandemic.
He said the drugs would add to the more than PHP56 billion worth of illegal drugs that were seized after more than 180,000 anti-illegal drug operations since the beginning of his administration in 2016.
Duterte urged the law enforcement forces, the prosecution service, and the judiciary to never waver in efforts to end the menace that has caused “immeasurable harm” to the lives of users and their families.
He also reminded them to do their duty in accordance with the law, stressing that he would take responsibility for all drug-related killings and protect them from prosecution. (PNA)
