If the objective of the #Real Numbers press conference last Thursday organized by the Presidential Communications Operations Office was to clarify about the conflicting numbers related to President Duterte’s drug war, it left us more confused.
Communications Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael-Banaag repeated her earlier press statements that Homicide cases under investigation (HCUIs) are “not at all” related to the war on drugs or anti-illegal drug operations.
It’s difficult to believe her assertion because in the Duterte government’s 2017 Accomplishment Report, under the section “Fighting Illegal Drugs,” it listed 3,967 “drug personalities who died in anti-drug operations” from July 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017 and 16,355 “homicides under investigation” from July 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017.