MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said it has yet to validate the names which have been added to the watchlist of High Value Target (HVT) personalities involved in illegal drugs.
Updating newsmen on developments in the government’s Oplan Double Barrel, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the list of HVTs as of August 15, based on new information and continuing validation, has increased to 9,972 from 9,866 listed as of June 30.
“With this new working figure, we are setting our sights on 1,003 High-Value Targets as subjects of police interdiction operations thru buy-bust operation and service of Warrants of Arrest and Search Warrants,” Albayalde noted.
He said the names will be subject to validation by police anti-drug units, adding that the aggressive war on illegal drugs had the over all net effect of reducing incidence of others crimes in the country.
As of August 15, the PNP chief said a total of 4,959 HVT personalities have surrendered and are now under monitoring and evaluation, while 2,825 others or 28.32 percent were arrested and charged.
“Only 258 HVT personalities died in police operations or 2.58 percent out of the 9,972 target personalities,” he said.
The PNP chief said there are 654 HVT personalities who can no longer be located in their last known addresses and areas of operation, while 322 other HVT personalities had become victims of homicide cases under investigation.