63 cops killed, wounded in Central Luzon in PNP anti-drug campaign ‘Oplan: Double Barrel’


CAMP OLIVAS, City of San Fernando, Pampanga – The Police Regional Office (PRO)-3 (Central Luzon) reported Friday, June 24, that 63 policemen all over the region were either killed or wounded in the Philippine National Police (PNP) anti-illegal drug campaign dubbed “Oplan: Double Barrel” that started in 2016.

“The war on illegal drugs has not solely taken its toll on slain drug pushers and users who were killed in legitimate drug operations launched by the police. Men in uniform are also susceptible and their lives are at risk,” the PRO3 said in a statement.

“The number of Central Luzon cops who were killed and wounded during actual police operations presents that there are always two sides of the coin. Out of the 63, 18 cops were killed and 45 were wounded while performing their duties to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs from the start of the implementation of Double Barrel to date,” the PRO-3 added.

At present, the PRO-3 reported that 62,516 suspected drug personalities were arrested while 2,423 others were killed and 820,849.15 grams of suspected shabu and 1,193,189.98 grams of marijuana were seized under Double Barrel in the region.

“It pains us to know that some of our members were harmed and even killed in line with our diligent efforts to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs. But the primary duty of men and women in uniform across the region and across the country is to keep our communities safe, secure, and drug-free even if we put ourselves in peril. Still, we are committed in our waging war against illegal drugs and we will continue to be relentless in our campaign at all costs,” PRO-3 director Police Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay said.