Philippines police admit to 5,600 unsolved killings

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

Philippines police Tuesday released records showing more than 5,600 unsolved killings since Rodrigo Duterte became president and ordered an all-out nationwide war against drugs last July.

Philippine National Police data showed at least 9,432 homicide cases recorded from July 2016 to March 2017.

Authorities have yet to determine the motive for the killings in 5,691 cases, Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez, PNP director for investigation and detective management, told reporters in Manila.

"Investigations take time. We have to hear witnesses, conduct forensic examinations. We have to know what really happened," he said.

Marquez attributed an increase of 1,905 unsolved killings in a span of just one week (March 24 to 31) to delays in the filing of cases.

"It was just a matter of investigators and crime registrars not reporting and encoding [immediately]," Marquez said.

The government said only 1,847 or 19.6 percent of the total deaths under the Duterte administration were drug-related, while 1,894 or 20.1 percent were deaths attributed to motives unrelated to drugs.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Gen. Isidro Lapena was quoted by ABS CBN News as saying the number of homicide cases in the country is not expected to damage Duterte's satisfaction and approval ratings.

Extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration have sparked international criticism, mostly from human rights advocates.

"The president was catapulted to the presidency because there was a problem with drugs and the 16 million people who voted for him expect him to deliver on his campaign promise," Lapena said.

Despite the number of unsolved killings, there has been a 45 percent drop in incidents of rape, physical injury, car-napping, robbery, and theft under the Duterte administration, police officials said.