SCUTTLEBUTT

Groups looking into the real number of deaths in the drug war during the Duterte administration may find helpful data provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s crisis intervention unit (CIU).

CIU figures showed that from 2014 to September 2025, the DSWD had given assistance to poor families whose relatives totaling 1,439,160 individuals had passed away and for which a total of P10,985,450,785.32 in funeral assistance was released.

Financial funeral assistance spiked during the drug war which began in 2016. From 69,882 recorded deaths for which their families requested burial assistance in 2016, the figure rose to 82,615 in 2017.

In 2018, the total rose to 94,555, and in 2019 assistance was requested by 111,635 families.

The requests for burial assistance dropped significantly during the covid lockdown in 2020, but rose again as the pandemic continued to a total of 166,363. In 2023, when the AICS was better known, funeral assistance peaked at 215,336.

Requests for funeral assistance decreased since then — from 192,760 in 2024 to 140,321 so far in 2025.

Interviewing the families that sought assistance may uncover more drug war victims among their deceased relatives.