President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, June 14, called upon the Commission on Human Rights to take a second look at the administration’s war on drugs, saying lives are lost in the fight against illicit narcotics trade because the police are fighting armed criminals.

“Para ‘to sa mga tao na ayaw maniwala ng may namatay na mga tao in the prosecution of the drug war,” he said during his weekly Talk to the People.

“Kita mo naman o may patay pero kita mo ‘yong nahuli sa operations, it’s 1,000. May araw na mag-2,000, 1,000. Hindi bababa ng 1,000 ang mga nasa droga.”

During a meeting with the President, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano presented a chart showing the latest government’s drug bust where suspects were killed during operations. The latest anti-drug campaign confiscated a total of P1.2 billion worth of drugs within a week.

“You would notice that there are really persons who die almost daily because ‘yan ito lumaban talaga at hindi kasali ang pulis ko na may tama at namatay rin,” he said.

President Duterte then warned CHR not to threaten the police fighting drug traffickers, stressing he won’t allow opening of records containing sensitive details on police investigations and operations.

Investigation records and state secrets cannot be divulged to the public, since it could hinder with the police personnel’s drug operations, investigation and surveillance, he said.

“Hindi nga puwedeng i-open ‘yan eh. ‘Pag makita ninyo, baka makita ninyo ‘yong pangalan ninyo, kayo pala ang nagbibigay ng mga impormasyon sa pulis,” he said.

“Pero kung sabihin mo ‘yong engkwentro, paano namatay, paano sinugod, okay ‘yan, walang problema tayo diyan.”

“Ang problema diyan kay kung makita ninyo — pati tatay mo makita mo ‘yong pangalan diyan, naloko na. Iyan ang ano, iyan ang intindihin ninyo.”

The proliferation of illegal drugs has been going on for years, he said, and there are current surges in the number of deaths of drug suspects because of a more intensified police anti-drug campaign.

“With the advent of this — itong nauso na itong human rights investigation, pati ako, naimbestiga ako ng Human Rights Commission headed by de Lima,” he said.

“Tapos ‘yong siya na ‘yong naging Secretary of Justice, inimbestiga niya ako. Walang nangyari, walang rekomendasyon, wala lahat. Puro lang ‘yong aspersions, ‘yong mga salita na ganoon.”

Defending the police, the President said law enforcers know that they cannot randomly kill during drug busts without reasons since they know that they could be held accountable later on. PND