By Sydney Antoinette Alipao

PHOTO: ABS-CBN News

Almost five years since President Rodrigo Roa Duterte launched his campaign against illegal drugs in 2016, multiple drug personalities and persons with unidentified drug involvement have been killed including foreigners in the country, who are mostly Chinese.

The recent fatality is the high-profile target Wu Zishen, who was shot dead in a buy-bust operation in Bulacan last August 1, wherein the police seized 75 kilograms of drugs worth Php 510 million.



According to police reports, Wu noticed that he was transacting with anti-drug operatives that prompted him to fire his .45 caliber pistol making him the 14th Chinese fatality under the war against illegal drugs in the country.


PREVIOUS CHINESE CASUALTIES UNDER THE WAR ON DRUGS

The first case was recorded 16 days after Duterte started his presidential term on June 30, 2016, when an unidentified body of a man was found under a bridge in Tondo, Manila. Beside it, was a sign that said "Chinese drug lord me."

On July 22, 2016, Mico Tan, who was described as a drug lord and operator of multiple drug labs, was killed in a clash for his attempt to escape after the police served him a warrant to search his lab.



Just two weeks after the first fatality, two unidentified bodies— a man and a woman— were also found in Manila. Multiple gunshot wounds covered the male body who was said to be in his 30s, beside him, was a placard with writings "I'm a Chinese drug lord." 

Meanwhile, the woman who was thought to be in her 20’s was also covered with multiple gunshot wounds, her hands bound by duct tape. She was also found with a placard beside her that read: "Chinese drug lord." 

On August 11, 2016, two high-profile inmates Jacky Huang and Yonghan Cai were killed inside Parañaque City jail due to a grenade explosion. Reports have stated that the two were among the ten inmates inside Jail Warden Superintendent Gerald Bantag's office to discuss their cell transfer.

According to Bantag, he was inside the bathroom near his office when he heard gunshots that prompted him to check the scene, however, he said, he was fired by a gunshot that urged him to fire back. Afterwhich, a grenade exploded, injuring him and killing the ten inmates.

Initial investigations believe that the explosion was a part of the inmates' failed escape plan.

On the other hand, there were also claims that the prisoners were executed for they all face drug raps, however, relatives of two other inmates questioned Bantag's testimonies, reiterating the impossibility of smuggling arms inside the jail.



Four years after the incident, Bantag and two jail guards were announced not guilty of ten counts of homicide on January 8, 2020.

Two drug suspects, one of them a Chinese man named Kang Bo She, were also killed in Isabela on October 23, 2016. Similar to Tan's incident, Kang and his cohort were presented a warrant to search for their drug lab but a shootout between them and PNP and PDEA agents took place, killing the two.

Another case of drug-related killing was also tallied on March 14, 2017 when Ben Chua was shot by unidentified assailants riding in two vans following him inside his SUV.

The case was considered to be linked with drugs as police recovered a sachet of shabu in his pocket.

Another incident of a shootout between state-law enforcers and two Chinese suspects Vincent Du Lim and Hong Li Wen happened on February 3, 2019, killing the latter.

The incident happened as the two sensed that the transaction they were involved in was a buy-bust operation that prompted them to draw their guns, starting the clash. The operation seized Php 1.9 billion worth of shabu.

On June 6, 2020, another buy-bust operation turned into shootout incident was reported between Jin Long Cai and an accomplice in Parañaque. The police then recovered Php 244 million worth of shabu.



This year on May 10, Wang Teng Shou, with an unreported drug involvement was also killed as the taxi he was riding in after he was released from prison due to drug-related charges was chased by a man on a motorcycle who shot him dead.

After all the killings and shootouts, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, in a statement on June 19, 2016, expressed its support and willingness to cooperate with the country's campaign against illegal drugs.


Report source: ABS-CBN News