THE government’s relentless war on drugs has claimed the lives of at least 254 drug suspects who were gunned down in separate police operations in Central Visayas.
“All of them tried to shoot it out with the operatives,” said Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), who released the figures on Thursday.
Of the number, 241 were suspected drug pushers, six were alleged users, while seven were believed to be both peddlers and users.
The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte launched a brutal campaign against narcotics in July 2016.
Sinas said the suspects were killed during drug busts and service of warrants.
He did not however, release data as to the number of persons killed by still unknown assailants.
A tally made by Cebu Daily News showed that at least 198 persons had been killed in Cebu since February this year.
Of the number, 47 were killed in separate police operations while the rest were gunned down by unknown assailants.
Most of these murders remain unsolved.
Sinas said there will be no let up in their campaign against illegal drugs.
“We will not stop until we get rid of these illegal substances,” he said.
Despite the spate of unsolved killings, PRO-7 still ranked first in crime solution efficiency in the whole country.
In a report released by Camp Crame, PRO-7 registered a crime solution efficiency rating of 78.78 percent or 28,000 cases were solved from January to September this year.
Sinas said that the recognition only showed that the police in Central Visayas are working hard to solve crimes.
He admitted that there are still crimes, especially shooting incidents, that remained unsolved but he said their investigators are working double time to resolve them.
The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) has conducted a probe into the killings, particularly those that involved law enforcement units.
Of the at least 70 cases investigated by CHR-7, at least six, which involved either policemen or operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), were elevated to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The cases still remain pending at the anti-graft office.