Philippines VP calls for revamped drug war to end 'senseless killings'

By Martin Petty
MANILA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The opposition leader put in
charge of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs
said on Friday it was time to reassess a campaign that was
fraught with senseless killings and had failed to curtail a
staggering rise in addiction.
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 crime and justice, and
police operations, known as "Oplan Tokhang", must be conducted
lawfully and based on evidence.
Robredo is a political rival of the popular 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 drugs 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 upon 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 a 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.
Activists dispute those accounts and accuse police of
executing suspects based on weak intelligence. Police reject
that.
Robredo was given the "drugs tsar" post by Duterte after
remarks she made about abusive police and the campaign's
ineffectiveness, made during an Oct. 23 interview with Reuters,
and in subsequent media appearances. Her supporters are sceptical about the appointment by a
president who has repeatedly snubbed and publicly ridiculed her.
Duterte's office says he genuinely wants Robredo to succeed.
On Friday, she said drug addiction was a real problem,
noting Duterte's own frustrations about what he says are up to 8
million drug-dependent Filipinos. Duterte has not disclosed the
source of his numbers.
Robredo said she interpreted Duterte's offer as a sign of
his openness to new ideas.
"I want to look at it as a signal that the president is open
to listen to fresh perspectives about the entire campaign," she
said.
"I also want to look at it as agreement that it is time to
objectively assess what we have been doing."