In this Sept. 15, 2016 file photo, President Rodrigo Duterte shows documents containing the names of politicians, judges, and law enforcers involved in illegal drugs during his visit to Camp Tecson in Bulacan. (PPD/King Rodriguez) CABANATUAN CITY - How can the Catholic clergy understand the seriousness of the drug problem? They should try shabu. A joking President Duterte floated the proposal here on Wednesday as scored the Church anew for its supposed hypocrisy and pretensions. The Roman Catholic Church, the faith of more than 80 percent of Filipinos, has been vocal in expressing concerns over the spate of killings linked to Duterte's brutal war on drugs. More than 6,000 suspected drug offenders have been killed since Duterte assumed the presidency. [continues 382 words]
[photo] In this Nov. 26, 2016 photo, President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he delivers his keynote address during the San Beda College of Law Alumni Homecoming at the Shangri-La Hotel in Taguig City. (PPD/King Rodriguez) MANILA, Philippines - President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday dug up old controversies including the so-called Pajero scandal and clergy sexual abuse in his latest tirade against the Catholic Church, which has been raising concerns over the spate of killings linked to his war on drugs. [continues 716 words]
President Rodrigo Duterte said no one could stop him from imposing martial law. PPD/Ace Morandante MANILA, Philippines -- President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday evening said that if the drug problem in the country worsens, he would declare martial law. Duterte said that no one could stop him from imposing martial law if the country's situation becomes "virulent," citing that he does not care about the Supreme Court. "Kung gusto ko at if it will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law if I wanted to. Walang makapigil sa akin," Duterte said in a speech during the 49th annual installation of officers and board of trustees of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Incorporated. [continues 339 words]
MANILA, Philippines - After confronting mayors with alleged ties to the narcotics trade, President Rodrigo Duterte wants to meet with governors to discuss the drug problem as he stressed that he would not back down on his campaign even if it costs him his position. "I'd be calling the governors next week. I'd really tell them. You tell your barangay captains, you have supervisory powers cities under you, those that are not yet charter cities, you tell the mayors," the president told businessmen in Davao City Saturday night. [continues 284 words]
MANILA, Philippines -- An average of 30 people have been killed daily in the past 167 days under the Duterte administration's intensified campaign against criminality, especially the illegal drug trade. Records from the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed 2,102 drug pushers and users killed after allegedly fighting it out with police, and 2,886 others getting killed under sketchy circumstances and whose cases are listed as "death under investigation" or DUI. The reported deaths totaled 4,988 in less than six months. [continues 414 words]
In war, there is collateral damage. In the case of the vicious war on illegal drugs, President Duterte acknowledged last week that there have been "unintended killings" that have claimed the lives of innocents including children. In fact practically everyone killed in the drug war was legally innocent since guilt beyond reasonable doubt was never established in court, and most of the slain weren't even indicted. For the unintended killings, the President said he's sorry, although he made it clear that it would not stop his relentless war. Such a cavalier attitude toward human life is likely to rub off on the forces fighting the drug menace, making them careless about hitting innocents in the crossfire. It can encourage them to continue disregarding laws and rules on armed confrontations and the conduct of arrests and searches. [continues 223 words]
MANILA, Philippines - Maaaring magkaroon din sa Pilipinas ng mga asylum para sa mga adik na tuluyan ng nasira ang ulo dahil sa paggamit ng ilegal na droga partikular ng shabu. Ito ang sinabi ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte kaugnay ng mga adik na hindi na kayang i-rehabilitate dahil lumiit na ang utak sa matagal na paggamit ng shabu. "If the brain is shrunk and it was your forensics who told us that that is the case. They have conducted the --- and almost all of them have shrunk brains," ani Duterte. [continues 114 words]
No matter how the questions were rephrased, the President stuck to his guns in his replies on his much criticized campaign against illegal drugs. For a man who made a campaign vow to bring genuine change in the country, it may come strange. For his new year's resolution, President Rodrigo Duterte promises no change in his administration's offensive campaign against illegal drugs. President Duterte though already publicly declared "sorry for the unintended" killing of innocent by-standers in his administration's deadly war against illegal drugs. But President Duterte vows to continue the anti-drug campaign despite the alleged extra-judicial killing controversies that hounded him in his first six months into office. [continues 1002 words]
MANILA, Philippines -- Three American senators asked the US Department of State to explain the use of funding aid in the Philippines to make sure the money is not being used for the government's war on drugs. US Senators Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Christopher Coons (D-Delaware) have expressed grave concern over alleged extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the country under the President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign. "The Philippine anti-drug movement known as Project [Tokhang] in fact appears to be a campaign of mass atrocities thinly disguised as a response to a public health emergency," the senators said in a letter addressed to US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Assistant Secretary William Brownfield. [continues 501 words]
Just like in the movies, but this is real life. President Duterte admitted he takes inspiration from Western action movies like "Dirty Harry" in waging his bloody war on drugs that has raised concern among the United Nations, the United States and human rights advocates. Duterte's revelation came just hours before a blast ripped the Roxas night market in his hometown Davao City that killed 14 and injured more than 60 people. Answering queries from Michael Sullivan of the National Public Radio Washington, Duterte related the movie "Dirty Harry" with the killings of sus-pected drug pushers, particularly those killed by vigilante groups. [continues 500 words]
Aside from nightclubs and bars, authorities are setting their sights on condominium dwellers and call center agents in Metro Manila in the next phase of the war on drugs. National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde said they are investigating reports that drug pushers are using condominium dwellers and call center agents in their illegal transactions. Albayalde noted that the two groups could evade police detection because many call center agents work at night while condominiums are usually well secured against unwanted visitors. "I've ordered the five district directors to step up the implementation of Oplan Tokhang and Project Double Barrel in condominium units, business process outsourcing ( BPO) offices in Metro Manila," Albayalde said. [continues 279 words]
As the casualties in the government's war on drugs continue to pile up, the Philippines faces a "human rights calamity," according to Human Rights Watch. Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia deputy director, said at an ABS-CBN News Channel forum on human rights Tuesday night that the number of suspects killed in the hands of police in the first eight weeks of the Duterte administration is 10 times higher than those who died in the first six months of the year. [continues 752 words]
The United Nations is only paying lip service to the fight against illegal drugs and is even prejudging the involvement of law enforcers in summary executions of suspected drug offenders, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said on Monday. "The UN is just making mere lip service, stymied by the most vocal who seem to protect the illegal drugs trade," Yasay said. "This is the kind of frustration we must express. We must also understand the UN is not the solution but we must all be active participants," he told journalists at the Japan-ASEAN Media Forum at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City. [continues 203 words]
Under fire for allegedly condoning extralegal killings, Malacanang yesterday told the international media to visit the Philippines so they can see for themselves the extent of the drug menace in the country. Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said visiting the country would enable foreign journalists to understand the context of President Duterte's tough pronouncements on narcotics and crime. "The international media, as I have repeated time and again, should come to the Philippines and experience the life of the barangay (village) people who have so much drug problems," Andanar told reporters on the sidelines of the Japan-ASEAN Media Forum at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City. [continues 571 words]
When the late Rafael Salas became the first head of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in 1969, among his young recruits was Cecile Joaquin. Cecile was still working in New York in what was renamed the UN Population Fund when she met a Filipino lawyer some years later. The lawyer, Perfecto Yasay Jr., traveled the world after being named vice president of the international YMCA when he was just in his early 20s. Romance bloomed between the two, which led to marriage. [continues 935 words]
Nobody, not even the poor, can justify getting into illegal drugs, President Duterte stressed, and there must be an "eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" principle of retributive justice to finally end the menace. As this developed, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas issued a prayer for the healing of the nation amid the rising number of killings related to the war on drugs. "They know that is prohibited, whether you are poor or rich," Duterte said Monday night as he reiterated his heart would never bleed for families of those killed in government operations, even if some of them were supposedly forced to become drug pushers to earn a living. [continues 842 words]
The Europen Union ( EU) has expressed concern over the spate of killings in the Duterte administration's campaign against illegal drugs, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said yesterday. In a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Dureza said when he met with EU officials in Brussels, Belgium last Aug. 25, "they asked about the issue on drug campaign in the country." "They told me that many people are being killed... So many of our agreements with the EU have something to do with human rights issues, like the free tariff privilege with the EU. It is important that we clarified it to them," Dureza said. [continues 297 words]
Pedicab driver Reyjin dives into a neighbor's house for a quick meth fix, fearful of taking a bullet to the head in President Duterte's brutal war on drugs but unable to quit. More than 2,000 people have died violent deaths since Duterte took office two months ago and immediately implemented his scorched-earth plans to eradicate drugs in society, ordering police to shoot dead traffickers and urging ordinary citizens to kill addicts. The bloodbath has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are roaming through communities and shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs. [continues 210 words]
Judging from foreign media reports, the Duterte administration is attracting a lot of international attention, much of it for the wrong reasons. President Duterte will probably tell the foreign media to go to hell, but it's the Philippines that's taking a hit from all the bad press. So far, most foreign governments have refrained from publicly commenting on the drug-related mass killings, now about to shoot past 2,000. But I've been told that diplomats representing key global players are now touching base with certain administration officials, mainly to send word that the negative reports have started taking their toll on tourism and investments from their countries. [continues 997 words]
(AP) - On the day he was sworn into office, President Rodrigo Duterte went to a Manila slum and exhorted residents who knew any drug addicts to "go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful." Two months later, nearly 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users lay dead as morgues continue to fill up. Faced with criticism of his actions by rights activists, international bodies and outspoken Filipinos, including the top judge, Duterte has stuck to his guns and threatened to declare martial law if the Supreme Court meddles in his work. [continues 447 words]
