There were at least 3,017 drug-related killings during the first three and a half years of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, data collected by Dahas Project shows.
Four in five of these were recorded in Luzon where 2,509 drug-related killings occurred. Most were concentrated in Metro Manila (1,013) but the killings were carried out nationwide.
Metro Manila was followed by Bulacan (303), Laguna (263), Nueva Ecija (156), Quezon province (129).
All provinces in Calabarzon figured in the top ten places where the killings happened.
In Visayas, Cebu province was the deadliest place with a total of 109 killings recorded. In Mindanao, it was Cotabato province with 68 incidents.
The Dahas project gathered its data from news articles published on Inquirer.net. They continue to update the figures, as shown in their website.
The official count of the Philippine National Police is around 6,000. But human rights groups estimate that the actual number of drug-related killings reaches as high as 30,000.
On March 7, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Duterte over his deadly campaign against illegal drugs.
Local police acted on the warrant today, March 11. The former president was arrested upon his arrival in the Philippines from Hong Kong.
Duterte is the first Philippine president to be arrested by the international court. He was flown out of the country on a chartered plane going to The Hague, where the ICC is based. — PCIJ.org