Five suspected drug personalities were mercilessly killed inside a house in Pasig City as the death toll in the all-out government campaign against illegal drugs continues to rise and is nearing 5,000 five months after it was launched.
A report from the National Capital Region Police Office said victims German Vidal, Alex Hongco, Christian Camungol, Anthony Quintana, and Johnson Miraveles were killed inside a house on Narra St. in Purok Acacia, Barangay Pinagbuhatan which is known to be a drug den.
Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula, director of the Eastern Police District, said witnesses heard a burst of gunfire inside the house at around 11:30 p.m. Friday and later saw five armed men leaving the area.
“Three of the victims (Vidal, Hongco, and Camungol) were among those included in the drug personality list of the barangay,” said Sapitula.
Their deaths are not yet included in the official list of the Death Under Investigation of the Philippine National Police in which 2,646 fatalities were listed from July 1 to November 23.
A total of 3,658 persons were listed as victims but some of them either survived or were just wounded in the attacks by unknown assailants.
The number is on top of the 1,959 suspected drug pushers and users who were killed by the police in what they described to be legitimate operations in which all the victims tried to fight back at the policemen.
A total of 37,449 were arrested while 807,659 surrendered to the police across the country since the anti-drugs war was launched on July 1.
Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, maintained that those killed in legitimate operations fought back, the reason why they were killed. He added that on the part of the DUI, not all of them are drug-related.
(Aaron B. Recuenco)