CEBU CITY – The Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO-7) cried foul over a newspaper report that quoted a study tagging Cebu as "the Philippine's top hot spot for drug-related killings."

The PRO-7, headed by Police Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, appealed for "accuracy and restraint" after a Cebu City-based newspaper reported that Cebu leads in drug war killings.

The Nov. 18, 2024 report was based on Dahas project, a study initiated by the Third World Studies Center of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy of the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

The study showed that there were 65 drug-related deaths in Cebu from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15 this year or  21 percent of the 312 in the whole country.

"At the outset, PRO-7 recognizes the indispensable role of academic institutions and the media in public safety and security, especially in keeping in check law enforcement agencies in their peace and order initiatives. However, PRO-7 respectfully wishes to clarify some important points in the news article to give the public a more objective understanding of the situation as presented by the Dahas Project," the PRO-7 said.

The PRO-7 lamented that it was never invited to be part of the study.

"We were neither interviewed in relation to the research nor have the researchers requested any official data from us. Thus, allowing inaccurate data to feed into their study and not reflective of the true situation on the ground, especially in Cebu," the PRO-7 said.

The PRO-7 explained that the data presented by the article was not consistent with PRO-7’s crime data officially generated by the Crime Incidents Reporting Analysis System (CIRAS).

CIRAS figures show that only one drug-related killing was determined by the Cebu City Police Office in their initial investigation from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15, 2024, the PRO-7 said.

The PRO-7 added that in Cebu province, 11 drug-related killings were identified, 10 of which were already cleared or solved.

"These 12 drug-related deaths are perpetrated by drug traffickers victimizing their cohorts in the illegal drug trade. Respectfully, the PNP units are equipped with the authority, competence, and resources to conduct full-blown and professional investigations on the motives of murder cases," the PRO-7 said.

The PRO-7 pointed out the inaccuracy in the use of the term “drug war” in the article.

"It is clear that the killings being referred to in the study and in the article are drug-related murders or those murders that are perpetrated by criminals or drug traffickers in relation to their illegal drug transactions," the PRO-7 said.

The use of the term “drug war” in the title of the article will bring confusion and may mislead the public, the PRO-7 added.

"Our anti-drug operations in PRO 7 are relentless, highly analytical, and most importantly, adherent to the Police Operational Procedures," said the PRO-7.

"The more than P1-billion worth of shabu confiscated from January to the present speaks of this level of aggressiveness. To point out, in all these operations, no human rights violations are recorded.   While we appreciate the role of mass media in assisting us in informing the public, we appeal for objectivity and accuracy in the information that we share with the public."

The PRO-7 reiterated its "iron-clad" commitment to build a "strong and mutual" partnership with the media while assuring the community that the police in Central Visayas remain committed to its objective of providing peace and security.