09 July 2016•Update: 09 July 2016
By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines
Philippine police shot dead eight drug suspects Saturday, bringing the number of fatalities in the new government’s crackdown on illegal drugs to around 80, according to local media.
The eight were killed and another suspect arrested after a brief firefight broke out when officers attempted to serve warrants of arrest to allegedly "big-time" drug pushers and robbers in southern Cotabato province, according to news broadcaster ABS-CBN.
Three high-powered guns, a grenade and five sachets believed to contain methamphetamine -- locally known as “shabu” -- and other drug paraphernalia were recovered in the morning raid.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who was inaugurated June 30, has launched a campaign against drugs under his pledge to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer's The Kill List, which is regularly updated to document fatalities in the anti-crime drive, at least 72 suspects were killed from June 30 to July 7.
Several lawmakers have expressed concern over possible extrajudicial killings, with some seeking congressional investigations.
Senator Leila de Lima, who served as justice secretary under former President Benigno Aquino III, announced Thursday that she would move for a legislative probe.
"I will file a resolution… We have to look into that, in aid of legislation, because as you know there are just telltale signs of summary executions in a number of them [recent killings]," GMA News quoted her as saying.
“Perhaps some of them are legitimate, meaning the suspects resisted but not all can be considered that,” she added, underlining that a congressional probe could result in the institutionalization of the operational procedures of the national police, drug enforcement agency and other law enforcement.
While she described the Duterte administration’s all-out war on illegal drugs as “laudable”, she stressed that “it should not be done at the expense of human rights and due process.”
Meanwhile, Congressman Teddy Baguilat of northern Ifugao province has already filed a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for an investigation.
"We don't want culture of violence... The rule of law, due process must prevail," Baguilat said earlier this week. "And if you look at it positively, who knows, during the hearings we will be able to know if there are laws that need to be replaced or strengthened."
Since the May 9 election victory of Duterte, who served 22 years as mayor of southern Davao City, thousands of drug suspects and “addicts” have surrendered to police.
In the United Nations World Drug Report for 2012, the Philippines was listed as the East Asian country with highest use of methamphetamine.
