MANILA — Philippine police commanders met on Tuesday to evaluate the country’s war on drugs, the president’s spokesman said, thrashing out what law enforcement sources have described as a shift in strategy to increase arrests and cut down on bloodshed.
Spokesman Ernesto Abella said a “command conference” was being held to evaluate “Project Double Barrel”, as the narcotics crackdown is called, to assess whether there was a need to make adjustments to what he described as a successful campaign.
Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that police chiefs around the country would be briefed on the new plan.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter said under the plan, dubbed Project Double Barrel Alpha, more resources would go into arresting prominent people tied to the drugs trade, such as police, politicians and celebrities.
Intense discussions had previously taken place among law enforcement officials about the killings of drug suspects under President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs crusade, one source said.
Abella confirmed the meeting was taking place and said the drugs war had raised awareness of the “deadly extent” of the problem. “The purpose of the conference is to assess and if necessary to recalibrate the campaign,” Abella said in a text message responding to Reuters queries.
Abella did not elaborate on how the approach might be recalibrated and said the war on drugs had “always adhered to police action carried out with caution and regularity, but with single minded determination”.
Since his June 30 inauguration, almost 2,300 people have been slain in Duterte’s crackdown, according to police, lower than an earlier estimate of 3,600. That was revised down after many deaths were found to be homicides unrelated to drugs.
It is not immediately clear what triggered discussion of a change in tack, but it follows concerns by Western governments and rights groups about the high death toll and the circumstances behind many of the killings. — Reuters
