Investigations on police violence in the context of the so-called war on drugs conducted by the Philippine Commission of Human Rights (CHR) have shown that the police deliberately killed suspects. For this report, 3300 extrajudicial killings in Metro Manila, Central and South Luzon between May 2016 and March 2021 have been investigated.
The study reveiled that 1912 of these killings took place in the context of police operations, and 1382 were committed by unidentified assailants. The highest number of victims are being connected to search and arrest warrants as well as buy-bust operations.
The study refutes the widespread claim of the police, that the victims of their operations are due to the fact that the police had to fight back. Numerous autopsy reports have been analised and shown that the victims often show numerous shot wounds and signs of torture.