The number of suspects killed by police and vigilantes since the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign is nearing the 3,000 mark, a spokesman of the Philippine National Police said Tuesday.

Since July 1 until 6 am Tuesday, a total of 1,033 suspected pushers and users were killed by police in "legitimate" operations, Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said in a text message.

More people died from extrajudicial killings in a shorter period, said Carlos.

President Rodrigo Duterte, speaking on Monday before leaving for the ASEAN Summit in Laos said: “"Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed we will continue." .

From July 1 to September 4, 1,894 alleged pushers and users died at the hands of unidentified vigilante groups. This means 2,927 people were killed since July 1

Carlos said of the 1,686 incidents of extrajudicial murders, investigators filed 281 cases. Of the number of cases, 176 identified suspects were arrested while another 105 remain at large.

The figures were collated since July 1 when President Rodrigo Duterte began his brutal war on illegal drugs..

Carlos said there is internal purging within the 160,000 strong Philippine National Police.

An update showed out of the 11,572 police personnel who were subjected to drug testing, 85 cops and three non-uniformed personnel tested positive for drug use.

If confirmatory tests reveal they are positive for drug use, policemen could be dismissed from the service.