Slaughter in the Philippines

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD DEC. 10, 2016

The New York Times

In the name of eliminating drug crime, President Rodrigo Duterte has plunged
the Philippines into a nightmare of brutal slaughter. The police say that since July
1, they have killed more than 2,000 people suspected of drug-related crimes. In
addition, more than 3,500 homicides remain unsolved, many at the hands of
unknown vigilantes.

During a recent 35-day stay in Manila, Daniel Berehulak of The New York Times
photographed 41 murder scenes, with 57 bodies. His powerful report is hard to
read and the images are hard to view. But they bring home, in a way mere
numbers cannot, the horror being inflicted on a population living in fear that
death can strike anyone, at any moment, with impunity.

Even if Mr. Duterte has not directly ordered individual killings, there is no doubt
they are being carried out with his approval. Mr. Duterte campaigned on a
promise to begin a killing spree to eliminate the countrys drug problem, and he
pledged bounties to those who would help. He has defied calls from the United
Nations, the United States and the European Union to stop, instead lashing out,
calling President Obama a son of a whore and threatening to pull the
Philippines out of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

Mr. Duterte says he has found a sympathetic ear in President-elect Donald

Trump, which, if true, would be deeply shocking. After the two men spoke by
phone on Dec. 2, Mr. Duterte claimed Mr. Trump assured him that, as far as the
Philippines war on drugs was concerned, we are doing it as a sovereign nation,
the right way, and that Mr. Trump wished him well. So far, Mr. Trump, who has
business interests in the Philippines, hasnt challenged Mr. Dutertes version of
the conversation, leaving the impression that the future president of the United
States condones the murderous methods of a strongman.

Mr. Duterte has also threatened to sever longstanding ties with the United States
because of criticism aimed at his antidrug campaign, and has moved to build
stronger ties with China. But neither the historic relationship nor Americas vital
interests in the region is sufficient reason to be silent about a leader who proudly
brandishes his contempt for the rule of law. Doing so sends a dangerous signal to
a world where defiant strongmen are on the rise.
The Guardian view on the Philippine war on drugs:
street justice is no justice
EDITORIAL
The Guardian

Voters in the Philippines knew what they were getting when they backed Rodrigo
Duterte overwhelmingly in this years presidential election. As mayor of the
southern city of Davao he was wildly popular for his harsh anti-crime campaign:
How do you think I did it? Kill them all, he proclaimed. He suggested that
under his presidency, fish would grow fat on the bodies of 100,000 criminals.
Mr Duterte has a well-earned reputation for wild and often foul-mouthed
statements, but there was a record behind the bluster. Death squads claimed at
least 1,000 lives during his term in Davao. He earned the nicknames The
Punisher and Duterte Harry. He appears to like them.

Now, having pledged the impossible ending crime and corruption nationwide
within six months Mr Duterte is in a hurry. Even as he celebrated his victory in
June, he urged vigilantes to shoot drug dealers who resisted arrest. Then he
urged people to go ahead and kill addicts as it would be too painful for the
parents of users to do it. One top Philippine official has described the crackdown
as a necessary evil in pursuit of the greater good.

On Tuesday the national police chief denied that there was a declared policy to
kill users and pushers, but he acknowledged that about 1,900 killings had been
recorded since Mr Duterte took office seven weeks ago, far more than previously
believed. About 800 of those took place during police operations,
including strikingly odd deaths in custody. One father and son were shot dead
after grabbing an officers gun, officials said. An investigation by an independent
government body said the two men had already been incapacitated by severe
beatings.

Mr Duterte gives short shrift to those with qualms, accusing prominent critics of
being involved in the drugs trade themselves. This weekend he threatened to
leave the United Nations after human rights experts warned that allegations of
trafficking should be judged in the courts and not by gunmen. He suggested he
might invite China and African nations to form a new organisation a heavy-
handed reminder to American patrons that he may warm ties with Beijing.

South-east Asia has been here before. Under Thaksin Shinawatras leadership,
Thailands 2003 war on drugs saw 2,800 extrajudicial killings in three months.
Four years later, an official report found that more than half the victims had no
connection to drugs. They included a nine-year-old boy shot dead as police
chased his mother. Thailands drug trade has proved resilient.
Such drives inevitably claim innocent lives and kill users as well as dealers. But
the core objection is simply that no one should die like this. Extrajudicial
executions undermine the rule of law. They make a country less safe, not more.

Senators are investigating the killings, but so far Mr Dutertes stance appears
highly popular reflecting the toll that crime and violence has taken on
Philippine society and the failure of the political class to get to grips with them.
The US and others have expressed deep concern, but rights campaigners warn
that it is hard to see an end in sight unless the US and EU nations make it clear
that continuing will result in economic and diplomatic penalties. There is every
sign that Mr Duterte will attempt to play them off against Beijing. They should
stand firm.
Drug war surrenderers breach 1M mark

(philstar.com) | Updated January 1, 2017 - 11:07am

MANILA, Philippines The number of drug surrenderers has breached the one
million mark.

This figure alone makes President Rodrigo Dutertes anti-drug war a success,
said Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

It is evident we are hitting the mark in our campaign against illegal drugs. But
more than the statistics, the real score in the governments intensified anti-drug
operations is that it has pulled down the countrys crime rate by 32 percent,
Andanar pointed out, citing the latest report from the Philippine National Police
(PNP).

Andanar attributed the presidents high satisfaction, approval and trust ratings
from his successful anti-drug war which resulted in lower crimes. The PNP,
however, also reported an 18 percent increase in murders compared to the same
period last year.

People feel safer in the streets and at night because the number of theft,
carjacking, robbery, rape, physical injury has decreased. At the end of the day,
this is what counts, he added.

These pushers and users voluntarily surrendered through the continuous efforts
and relentless operations of the PNP to curtail illegal drug trades in the country,
which is in line with President Dutertes directive," said Andanar.

Out of the 40,371 anti-drug operations conducted by the PNP from July 1 to
December 31 under Project Double Barrel Alpha, some 43,114 were arrested and
2,167 were killed.

Moreover, a total of 5,911,306 houses have been visited in the same period
through Oplan Tokhang, wherein police personnel knock on the houses of
suspected drug personalities and ask them to mend their ways.

Treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts form part of the second phase of the
presidents anti-drug war.
The Duterte administration has recently inaugurated a mega drug rehabilitation
facility in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija and expects treatment and
rehabilitation of drug addicts to be in full gear by 2017. PNA