Philippine drug war deaths pile up as Duterte admits losing control

Some 1,600 people have been killed in the past six months in the nation’s war on drugs, bringing the official death count to more than 6,600

The latest figures prompted campaigners to demand a full investigation into the crackdown by Duterte, who last week appeared to have admitted he was losing control of the situation

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:02pm, 19 Jun 2019Updated: 11:17am, 20 Jun 2019

Philippine police commanders on Wednesday revealed that 1,600 people had been killed in the past six months in the war on drugs, with the latest figures coming just days after President Rodrigo Duterte admitted having lost control of the crackdown.

The latest figures from the Philippine National Police brings the official death count to more than 6,600.

It immediately prompted campaigners to demand a full investigation into Duterte’s crackdown, which human rights groups claim may be responsible for as many as 30,000 deaths when vigilante deaths are included.

Last week, Duterte appeared to admit losing control of the crackdown, saying the Philippines was being “swallowed by narcotics”. “Drugs, I cannot control, son of a b …, even if I ordered the deaths of these idiots,” he said.

The last set of data provided by authorities came in December last year, when the fatality count had just passed 5,000 deaths. National Police spokesman Colonel Bernard Banac said “at least” 1,600 further deaths had occurred between January and May this year, and that most of these targets had been resisting arrest.

“The increase was due to suspects putting up armed resistance to operatives,” Banac said when asked what was behind an apparent uptick in the rate of deaths.