Civilian-targeting in drug war rising

THE direct role of the nation’s government in civilian-targeting in its bloody campaign against drugs has escalated since 2020 and the bloodshed shows no signs of subsiding, according to a US data analysis group.

“The Philippine state has taken an increasingly large role in targeting civilians itself, no longer trying to create distance by ‘outsourcing’ the majority of violence to vigilantes,” said the report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled), a US-registered nonprofit organisation that analyses information and data on conflicts and violence worldwide.