Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hasn’t slacked in touting his drug war. Even an audience of young children doesn’t seem to have tempered Duterte’s posture toward the drug trade and the people in it. “I am angry,” Duterte said at an event for 4- to 6-year-old Kid Scouts and 7- to 10-year-old Cub Scouts. “I will kill people if they destroy our youth.” Duterte’s anti-drug campaign was blamed for more than 7,000 killings between when he took office on June 30, 2016, and when the Philippine National Police were suspended from the effort at the end of January. More than 2,500 suspected “drug personalities” were killed in what Philippine authorities say were police operations, while 3,600 deaths are under investigation. Police have also been accused of conducting extrajudicial killings. (Their suspension came after police officers killed a South Korean businessman in a kidnapping attempt.) Duterte, who was … [Read more...] about ‘I am angry. I will kill people’: Rodrigo Duterte promises death for criminals in speech to kids
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‘That idiot’: Rodrigo Duterte responds to former Colombian president’s anti-drug-war op-ed
During a speech at an event celebrating the 115th anniversary of the founding of the Philippine Bureau of Customs, President Rodrigo Duterte gave a customarily blunt response to an op-ed written by former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria. Gaviria, who presided over the hunt for and killing of Pablo Escobar, cautioned against deploying armed police and troops to fight the drug trade and called for more efforts to address the social factors related to drug use in a New York Times op-ed titled “President Duterte is repeating my mistakes.” Duterte, whose campaign against the drug trade in the Philippines is believed to have led to more than 7,600 killings since he took office in summer 2016, gave little weight to Gaviria’s words. “To tell you frankly [they say that] Colombia [leader] has been lecturing me. That idiot,” he said, according to Philippine news site Rappler. During his speech, Duterte had been describing the virulence of … [Read more...] about ‘That idiot’: Rodrigo Duterte responds to former Colombian president’s anti-drug-war op-ed
Trudeau should use sanctions law against Philippines’ killer president Rodrigo Duterte: Walkom
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has used its so-called Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on Russian and Venezuelan leaders accused of human rights violations. Politically, that’s easy. But the prime minister’s trip to Manila this week provides an opportunity to use that law against one of the true villains of the modern era — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. And that will be more difficult. Duterte should be sanctioned. He condones, encourages and in all likelihood orders the murder of his own citizens. According to a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, he is responsible for the murder of at least 9,400 people suspected of being drug addicts or pushers. Some murders were allegedly carried out by police acting under his instruction. Others are said to have been committed by state-financed vigilantes. The European Union parliament has decried what it calls extrajudicial killings under the Duterte regime. The United Nations … [Read more...] about Trudeau should use sanctions law against Philippines’ killer president Rodrigo Duterte: Walkom
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says Donald Trump made him feel ‘like a saint’
MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he felt “like a saint” after his phone conversation last week with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who he said praised him for “doing great” in his deadly campaign against illegal drugs. He said in a speech that Trump told him not to worry about Americans criticizing him, saying “you are doing good, go ahead.” Trump invited him for coffee if he visits Washington or New York, and told him he wanted to hear how Duterte deals with the media, his critics and the public, the Philippine president said. “Oh President Duterte, we should fix our bad relations ... you’re doing great,” he quoted Trump as saying. “So now, if you listen to Trump talk to me, I have become like a saint.” … [Read more...] about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says Donald Trump made him feel ‘like a saint’
‘I might go down in history as the butcher’: The making of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES—President Rodrigo Duterte relishes the image of killer-savior. He boasts of killing criminals with his own hand. On occasion, he calls for mass murder. Speaking of the drug addicts he says are destroying the Philippines, he said, “I would be happy to slaughter them.” Duterte and his friends have long cultivated legends of his sadistic exploits, like throwing a drug lord from a helicopter and forcing a tourist who violated a smoking ban to eat his cigarette butt at gunpoint. It is a thuggish image that Duterte embraces. Whether Duterte has done what he says — the killings he claims to have carried out are impossible to verify — he has realized his gory vision in national policy. First as a mayor, now as president of the Philippines, he has encouraged the police and vigilantes to kill thousands of people with impunity. … [Read more...] about ‘I might go down in history as the butcher’: The making of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte