Philippine police suspend anti-drug operations, declare war on rogue cops
But President Rodrigo Duterte insists he’ll forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term in 2022
Philippine police are suspending their anti-narcotics operation until they have cleansed their ranks of “scalawags”, the chief of the force said on Monday, following the killing of a South Korean businessmen by rogue officers.
The police campaign, dubbed “Oplan Double Barrel”, which also includes “Tokhang”, in which police go house to house knocking on doors in search of drug suspects, has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 suspected drug users and pushers.
The dismantling of the anti-drug units meant “they are aware that the very men involved in anti-drug operations...are involved in illegal activities under the guise of the so-called war on drugs,” she told ANC television.
But Duterte vowed on Sunday to forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term.
“We will cleanse our ranks...then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs. The president told us to clean the organisation first,” Dela Rosa said.
“I don’t know how long it will take to cleanse the PNP. But with each and every one of us cooperating, helping each other, maybe in a month, we can do it.”
The anti-drug campaign has caused alarm in the West and rights groups accuse Duterte of turning a blind eye to a wave of alleged extrajudicial killings by police, mostly of low-level peddlers. Police deny this, claiming self-defence.
Duterte said he believed almost 40 per cent of all police officers around the country were involved in graft.
“You policemen are the most corrupt. You are corrupt to the core. It’s in your system,” Duterte told reporters as he railed against the officers who allegedly masterminded the murder of the South Korean businessman.
Duterte said police officials who had been the subject of internal investigations should be reassigned to work in conflict zones.
Fighting drugs and crime was the key platform of Duterte’s election campaign, during which he promised to eradicate illicit drugs within six months. His term ends in 2022.
Once in office Duterte extended the timeframe until March of this year, but on Monday he said there would be no end while he was in power.
“I will extend it to the last day of my term,” Duterte told reporters.
“March no longer applies.”
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
