The ex-police chief, accused by the ICC of crimes in Duterte’s drug war, is evading arrest over the bloody campaign that killed thousands
When Duterte assumed the presidency in June 2016, he appointed dela Rosa, his former police chief in Davao City, as head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), a post he held for 21 months. Duterte gave him broad authority to replicate Davao’s crime-fighting model nationwide.
“He is leaving everything up to me,” dela Rosa, popularly known as “Bato”, or “rock”, said at the time.
On his first day as PNP chief, dela Rosa issued a directive launching the nationwide anti-illegal drugs crackdown to fulfil Duterte’s campaign promise.
The programme, called Project Double Barrel, was patterned after Davao City’s policing strategy and aimed at the “neutralisation of illegal drug personalities nationwide”.
Its roll-out was followed by a sharp rise in killings. Police reported more than 2,000 deaths between Duterte’s inauguration on June 30 and the end of that year, most described as occurring during shoot-outs.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
