Making good on its promise of a less bloody if not bloodless campaign, the Philippine National Police is back in the war on illegal drugs. And for the most part, “Double Barrel Reloaded” is living up to the PNP promise, with most of the drug suspects being apprehended rather than being shot dead ostensibly while resisting arrest or “nanlaban.”

Even as human rights advocates welcome this kinder, gentler version of Double Barrel, however, killings suspected to be related to drugs and attributed to vigilantes continue. While the numbers are now lower, the fatal shootings perpetrated mostly by armed men on motorcycles continue almost daily.

Public suspicion persists that some of the vigilantes are police themselves or other persons working for the government such as barangay personnel and militias or so-called force multipliers. Whether or not the suspicions are correct, the truth must be unearthed – to give justice to those killed, who could be innocent of any wrongdoing, and to prevent the murderers from killing again.

The government says vigilante killings account for about half of the 7,000 drug deaths since Oplan Tokhang was launched. The killings, together with accusations that many of the fatalities in police operations were summarily executed, have fueled concerns about extrajudicial killings. Such concerns are reportedly set to be raised before the International Criminal Court.

But the bloody campaign has fueled public unease about the means to achieve the end. Drug suspects aren’t the only ones who have been killed; their elderly relatives and even young children have become collateral damage in a brutal war.