This year, from January 1 to October 15, , the Cebu Provincial Police Office recorded just one “drug personality reported dead during police operations.” The Dahas Project counted six. This number is part of the 31 drug-related killings in Cebu that the Dahas Project of the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines Diliman monitored in the same period.
Cebu is the epicenter of drug-related killings in the country since President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. assumed office in 2022 and declared a “bloodless” drug war. For three straight years, Cebu is the country’s top hotspot for drug-related killings. The province recorded 44 killed in Year 1, 65 in Year 2, 82 in Year 3, and 37 in Year 4. Four months into Marcos’ fifth year in office, Cebu has logged 10 killed: a total of 238 were killed his drug war. Of the 238 victims, 29 were killed by his police force.
In its October 16 press release posted in its Facebook page, the Philippine National Police Cebu Provincial Office claimed to have recovered more than PHP 50 million worth of illegal drugs from January 1 to October 15. This touted success was coupled with 2,411 arrests and 4,071 filed cases, spanning their 1,863 drug-related operations. Of all encounters logged, the Cebu Provincial Police Office only claimed one drug suspect killed. A claim echoed by at least one news outfit that picked up the Cebu police’s press release.
The Dahas Project considers a killing drug-related if the victim “was killed in a drug-related operation, activity, or encounter; was reported to be involved in the drug trade or in the war on drugs in whatever capacity (e.g., alleged drug personality, law enforcer, informant, etc.); was reported to be in possession of illegal drugs at the time of the killing of when the body was found; was reported to be associated with someone involved in the drug trade; and was killed by someone reported to be involved in the drug trade for drug-related reasons.”
Based on these criteria, the Dahas Project counted six drug-related killings committed by the Cebu police. In these encounters, the police remain consistent in their justification for their forced retaliation: the victims were armed; they resisted arrest.
On February 28, Vincent Tayong alias “Ensoy” reportedly started shooting after realizing that he was transacting with a police poseur buyer. He was killed by officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group during an entrapment operation against sale of illegal firearms in Barangay Poblacion, Liloan. The police identified him as a gun-for-hire, involved in peddling of illegal drugs, robbery, and carnapping. Three others were arrested in the encounter that killed Tayong.
Roy Olivio was gunned down by the responding police in an encounter at Barangay Paril, Cebu City on April 23. Olivio was reported by his neighbors for indiscriminate firing the night before his killing. He was reputed to be involved in other gun-related incidents in the area. In 2015, Olivio was arrested on charges related to illegal drugs.
On May 11, Rachel Artajo was killed in a shoot-out with officers from the Balamban Police Station. The police officers were in pursuit of Jehu Montero De Vila, 18, prime suspect in the killing of Roque Batalona Villamor alias “Baki,” a person the police alleges to be involved in the drug trade. Artajo harbored De Vila and two other persons. They were using her place to take drugs. The Balamban police tagged Artajo as a high-value individual (HVI) for her large-scale drug operation in the municipality. With Artajo dead, the police arrested the three other persons who were with her.
Less than a week after the police killed Artajo, Frederick Montero Irog, a habal-habal (motorbike taxi) driver, drug surrenderer, and Artajo’s identified cohort in the drug trade, was also killed by the Balamban police. In the morning of May 17, 2026, the police went to Barangay Biasong in Balamban to serve an arrest warrant for Jey-An Pacaña Durado for qualified theft. At that time, Durado was with his brother Richard, and Irog. The police said that they were guns-for-hire and drug pushers. Irog fired upon the arresting officers. He was killed in the firefight. He had ten grams of shabu with him. The police were able to arrest Jey-an; his brother, Richard, escaped.
Shoot-outs
Niño Jude Owatan, as he tried to escape, fired upon the police officers who were about to serve him a search warrant for a firearms-related charge. In the early morning of July 15, in Barangay Pulang Bato, Cebu City, Owatan was killed in a shoot-out with officers from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Cebu City Field Unit, the Intelligence Unit of the Cebu City Police Office, the Regional Intelligence Unit 7, and the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit. Owatan was also facing charges for murder, abduction, and involvement in other fraudulent activities. A sachet of shabu and drug paraphernalia were recovered from his body.
On August 5, Merson Fernandez Manching alias “Balot,” 31, was gunned down by the police at Barangay Ibabao, Cordova. The Cordova police received a call from a resident about an armed man in their area. An encounter ensued after Manching started shooting at the responding police officers. Recovered from his body were two packets of shabu and drug paraphernalia. The police said that Manching was also the gunman that killed Roberto Senit Tampus alias “Jojo,” 28, a police asset and drug user last July 12, in the same barangay.
These killings are part of the 31 cases in Cebu that the Dahas Project logged from January 1 to October 15, 2026, the majority, 14, were killed in Cebu City, followed by those killed in Balamban, 4; San Fernando, 3; Talisay, 3; and Cordova, 2. Argao, Lapu-Lapu, Liloan, Sugbu, and Toledo each recorded one killed.
Outside law enforcement operations, killings by non-state agents predominated, which comprise more than half of all the killings in Cebu (17 of 31). Of the 17, the police identified six committed by hired killers—a continuing pattern that was noted in an earlier report by the Dahas Project in 2024. Meanwhile, seven of the victims were killed by other drug personalities from whom the victims failed to remit the proceeds in their drug dealings.
On May 13, Rolando Linabog, 54, a former drug convict, was immediately arrested after killing Annaly Antiga Labustro alias “Anna,” 40, in Barangay Buanoy, Balamban, Cebu. Labustro was said to have failed to settle her drug debts and was ordered killed because of it. Linabog, for his part, confessed to have been enticed by a friend to do the murder for P100,000, a sum he was supposed to collect after the killing. The only advance payment he received was P1,000 worth of shabu.
A day after the killing of an unidentified woman in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City on May 21, 2021, three hired killers, two of whom were minors, were arrested during a hot pursuit operation by the officers of Sawang Calero Police Station. For the hit, the killers were promised three packs of illegal drugs and P5,000.They claimed that they were ordered to take out the victim for failing to pay for 100 grams of illegal drugs.
Targetting police assets
While the majority of their victims were pushers (7 of 17), hired killers had mistakenly targeted victims they alleged as police assets.
On January 3, Ramon Diamante, 62, barangay kagawad, was killed by hitman Gelven Mansanero, 26, in Barangay Sawang Calero, Cebu City. The man who ordered Mansanero to kill Diamante believed that Diamante was a police asset responsible for his arrest. The man first paid Mansanero PHP 60,000. When Mansanero learned that he killed a barangay official, he demanded an additional PHP 30,000. He was eventually caught by the police on March 3.
On March 21, Jay Niño Langbid Castañares died after a four-hour-long encounter with officers of the San Fernando Municipal Police Station, Carcar City Police Station, Naga City Police Station, 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, and Regional Mobile Force Battalion 7. Castañares was the killer of Emilio Miñosa Sabroso, whom he mistook as a police asset. Sabroso was shot while he was selling gulaman in Barangay Greenhills. He had no known drug ties.
There is a festering lethal drug trade in Cebu that the province’s police seem unable to fully deal with and account for, despite its claim of success in its anti-criminality crusade. As long as this is the case, Cebu will remain the center of drug-related killings in the Philippines.
