CHR says lesser deaths in PNP’s recent campaign against illegal drugs

Amid its criticism of the government’s drug war, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) acknowledged the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) improved operations in the campaign against illegal drugs.

“We cannot discount the fact that there’s an improvement from last year,” CHR spokesperson Jackie de Guia said on Monday in an interview on Unang Balita, pertaining to the decreased number of deaths from police operations.

De Guia added that he is hoping the PNP could carry out its operations the way the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has executed it when they were assigned to solely handle the campaign against drugs.

“We hope that it will be a total improvement so that it will be really a bloodless campaign and they can implement the RA (Republic Act) 1965 just like what PDEA did, “she said.

Moreover, De Guia said that the CHR is closely observing how the “Oplan Tokhang” is being accomplished, stressing it is not yet the best time to comment on the PNP’s performance for they have just reopened its operations.

 “We are closely monitoring the implementation of the Oplan Tokhang. Of course, that is just one component of the campaign against drugs. There are still a lot of operations happening every day. We evaluate them all,” De Guia said.

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 02/ 12 /18)