No More Murdering? –
NOV. 9, 2019 – Speaking at her first meeting in charge of a task force on narcotics, Vice-President Leni Robredo said the strategy should be as much about public health as it was about crime and justice, and that police operations, known as Oplan Tokhang, must be conducted lawfully and based on evidence.
Ms Robredo is a political rival of the popular Mr Duterte and has long been a critic of his flagship campaign, arguing that thousands of urban poor have been killed, with no sign of progress towards dismantling major drug networks … “There are many senseless killings that have accompanied Oplan Tokhang. It has reached a certain level of notoriety, that Tokhang is a war against the poor,” she said.
“It is incumbent on us to change that thinking. It is probably time that we think about shifting to something that is effective and that no one is killed senselessly.” She added: “I am all for an evidence-based strategy and approach.” Human rights experts at home and abroad are incensed by thousands of deaths in what police say were sting operations that resulted in shootouts.
