Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte could face international criminal charges as the death count in his relentless war on drugs tops almost 2000, human rights advocates say. Comments by the tough-talking former provincial mayor such as "all of you are into drugs, you sons of bitches ... I will kill you" could be used as evidence to prosecute him, they say. Sam Zarifi, from the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), says it is likely that as the killings continue lawyers will gather evidence to initiate legal proceedings against Mr Duterte, as 9541 victims of the late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos did in the United States in the 1990s. [continues 299 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]
President: US Leader Must First See Context PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday said he was ready to defend his take-no-prisoners war on drugs in a discussion of the human rights situation in the Philippines with US President Barack Obama in Laos next week. Mr. Duterte said he was willing to meet with Obama on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Vientiane on Sept. 6, but he would demand that he be allowed to first explain the context of his merciless crackdown on the illegal drug trade before engaging the US leader in a discussion of the human rights situation in the Philippines. [continues 546 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]
DID "The Punisher" just own up to the killing of druggies? President Duterte has admitted the government's lack of funds for the rehabilitation of drug dependents had led to the deaths of suspected drug lords. Since he assumed the presidency on June 30, almost 2,000 alleged drug pushers and users had died in police operations and vigilante killings. Speaking before members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) in Malacanang Monday night, the President said his administration did not have the money to finance recovery programs for some 700,000 drug users who had turned themselves in to police. [continues 85 words]
CEBU CITY - The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has intensified its campaign against illegal drugs with the launching of Oplan Pokemon, the police version of the popular mobile phone game. Just like the popular mobile phone app game, where players go to places to catch Pokemon monsters, Oplan Pokemon calls for the local police to go to different areas to look for those involved in the illegal drugs trade. The CCPO marked its first operation under Oplan Pokemon with a convoy of patrol cars and funeral hearse. [continues 156 words]
ILOILO CITY - Church and religious groups have decried the surge in killings of suspected drug pushers and have called on the faithful to "defend the dignity of life." Fr. Marco Sulayao, chair of Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) on Panay Island, said while religious people support the eradication of illegal drugs and rehabilitation of drug dependents, these should be done without the "wanton" killings of suspected drug pushers. He said there has been no significant outcry because of the people's desire to get rid of illegal drugs, which have victimized many, especially the youth. [continues 353 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]
(AP) - PRESIDENT Duterte said on Monday that the bloody antidrug campaign, that has left nearly 1,800 people dead, did not amount to genocide, but he nevertheless assured the policemen he was ready to go to jail to defend them from lawsuits. Mr. Duterte drew a line between the widespread killings sparked by his antidrug war and the brutality under Syrian President Bashar Assad and the atrocities committed by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. "Genocide? Who did I kill? I did not kill any child. I did not drop barrel (bombs) just like Assad," the President said in a speech to mark National Heroes' Day before war veterans, ambassadors and top officials. "I'm fighting ... criminals." [continues 230 words]
THERE seems to be no doubt on the unwavering commitment of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill his campaign promise of going all-out against the drug menace, come hell or high water. The campaign rhetoric had hinted how bloody the war against illegal drugs and criminality might be-like when then presidential candidate Duterte impressed upon the electorate that 100,000 criminals could die and their bodies dumped into Manila Bay to fatten the fish there-but the actual number of fatalities can still be very alarming, particularly to human rights advocates. [continues 706 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]
JUSTICE MINISTER General Paiboon Koomchaya is willing to propose that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invoke Article 44 of the interim charter to downgrade the amphetamine drug known as "yaba" to a narcotics category two drug, provided that the Public Health Ministry has a proper system to combat drug abuse. Public Health permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon said he was ready to respond accordingly if the government revised its policy to regulate the drug. He said doctors could not prescribe 'yaba' for medical treatment while it remained a category one drug. Category two drugs can be used legally with a doctor's prescription. Downgrading the category of the drug could address addiction issues, officials have said, because the current designation as a category one drug carries severe penalties that can deter users from seeking treatment. [continues 328 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]
WE, THE members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, acknowledge our active role as a visible force and prophetic voice in social life, in working for the common good. A role embraced by the Lord Jesus himself when he quoted the prophet Isaiah as he began his ministry: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." (Luke 4:18 19) [continues 592 words]
CANBERRA - Since President Duterte launched his war on drug syndicates on July 1, he has plunged the Philippines into a multitheater conflict against a broad front of international institutions, including the United Nations, its human rights rapporteurs, human rights watchdog groups, Amnesty International, the country's Chief Justice and other domestic critics of his violence-driven campaign. Hundreds of suspected drug dealers have been killed in alleged extrajudicial executions as the administration pursued the President's campaign promise to exterminate the drug menace in three to six months of his presidency. [continues 603 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]
The US State Department's 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says that addiction to shabu ( street name for methamphetamine or meth) is the most significant drug problem of the Philippines, with the narcotic continually growing as the most widely trafficked in the country. A UN World Drug Report also tagged the Philippines as the country having the highest rate of shabu use in the whole of East Asia with even the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) releasing a pastoral letter last year expressing concern about the proliferation of the drug problem in the country and the alleged involvement of government officials. [continues 847 words]
Define Human Being, Duterte Tells Rights Groups DAVAO CITY - Junkies are not humans. That is how President Duterte sees drug users whose bodies are piling up as he presses his brutal war on drugs. International human rights groups and the United Nations have raised concern about the killings, but Mr. Duterte, addressing soldiers at a military camp in his hometown Davao City on Friday night, said those groups should review their concept of human rights. "These human rights (advocates) did not count those who were killed before I became President. The children who were raped and mutilated [by drug users]," he said. [continues 810 words]
Cannabis is obtained from the plant of the genus Cannabis. Cannabis is the only drug that grows in Sri Lanka. It is grown illicitly, mostly in the dry zones of the country (in the Eastern and Southern provinces). Cannabis causes euphoria, "high" feeling, pleasurable state of relaxation, impaired performance, sleepiness, confusion and hallucinations. Cocaine Cocaine, which is obtained from the plant of genus Erythroxylon coca, is available as a paste, or "Crack" hard white rocks or flaky material. Cocaine is smoked, sniffed or injected. It causes euphoria and alertness and postpones hunger and fatigue. [continues 991 words]
It was an "unacceptable" statement and he was sorry. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa yesterday apologized for his statements calling on addicts to burn down the houses of suspected drug lords. Facing hundreds of drug surrenderees in Bacolod City on Thursday, Dela Rosa had urged them to burn the houses of drug lords or kill them. "Pour gasoline over their houses then light them up. Show them that you are angry over that they did to you. They're enjoying (your) money, money that destroyed your brain. You know who the drug lords are. Would you like to kill them? Go ahead. Killing is allowed because (you) are the victim," Dela Rosa told the assembled drug surrenderees in Bacolod. [continues 293 words]
The United States has not only made clear its concerns over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines but is discussing them "privately" with the Duterte administration, the US State Department said. "I would say that we continue to engage with the government of the Philippines on our concerns privately, as well as from the podium, and raise those. It's hard for me to characterize how seriously they take that. We continue to raise it," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing when asked about President Duterte's attacks against Sen. Leila de Lima in the same week Washington expressed concerns over drug-related killings in the Philippines. [continues 348 words]
It is obvious that Duterte's reforms are being blocked by his enemies. Their objective is to blacken his image and make his campaign against drug lords difficult and frustrate government reform. They are not bothered that if the drug lords and their backers (politicians mostly) are not stopped the drugs will proliferate and the problem will be impossible to solve. It is a war between criminals and their victims. Before that happens Filipinos must stop them or it will go out of hand. I am reprinting here the post of BayanKo's adviser Jose Alejandrino which is now viralling in social media. We should not waste time with so-called congressional investigations from the very senators accused of protecting drug lords. Instead we should mobilize as we did in Duterte's Luneta rally to spare our country, the poor and especially the young, from the evil that confronts us. [continues 945 words]
MORE THAN 1,800 deaths so far, and counting. That's the number provided by Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa himself at the Senate inquiry into the surge of extrajudicial killings since July 1, when President Duterte took office with a vow to rid this country of drugs and crime by whatever means. How many of these deaths involved minors? The government numbers do not indicate that information. And so the death of Danica May Garcia will eventually be lumped along with the rest-one more negligible statistic in the administration's brutal war against the drug menace that it has declared as the country's No. 1 problem today. [continues 620 words]
The latest casualty in the administration's "war" against drugs is tiny Danica May Garcia, all of five years old. Danica May, young Rowena Tiamson, 22; Jefferson Buhain, 20; Roman Clifford Manaois, 20, have all paid the ultimate price for an illegal drug trade that was allowed to prosper unabated by previous administrations. These innocents have been categorized as "collateral damage." To dehumanize them so in the effort to play down the accountability of those responsible is really to watch them die twice. [continues 1000 words]
THE ONGOING orgy of extralegal drug killings has become quite alarming and a cause for serious concern. President Duterte takes pride in the seeming success of his war on drugs and is constantly prodding the Philippine National Police to accelerate the killings. In his first State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said in substance that we should not let human rights destroy our nation. As a lawyer, I have always believed that human rights are what make us "human" and "civilized," the protection of which we should guard with vigilance. The summary execution of drug suspects without trial is akin to the slaughter of Indonesian "communists" during the time of President Suharto, which has been characterized as a "genocide." [continues 292 words]
When Philippine National Police officials report with a hint of pride that some 1,800 people have been killed in the drug war within less than two months, and some senators say the figure is still small considering the number of drug "personalities" in the country, this nation has lost its soul. President Duterte has amply shown that the drug menace is real and alarming in its scale. Whether the pervasiveness of the problem deserves those 1,800 deaths - more than half of which, the PNP stressed, were perpetrated by vigilantes - is debatable. But the debate at this point is lopsided and heavily in favor of the executioners. Many Filipinos seem to go along with Dirty Rody's Machiavellian belief about the end justifying the means. [continues 840 words]
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa prodded drug addicts "to kill drug lords and burn their houses for making them gaunt, toothless and addicted to shabu." Dela Rosa stressed that drug lords have ruined their lives. In contrast, he explained that drug lords do not use illegal drugs. "They look good and get rich, enjoying the fruits of their illegal activities at the expense of drug addicts. "You know who the drug lords are in your place. If you want to kill them, kill them. You can kill them because you are the victims, " Dela Rosa said in Filipino in a speech in Bacolod City. [continues 429 words]
Witnesses aren't the only ones who are permanently silenced. Lawyers whether representing crime victims or suspects are also being targeted by those who want to thwart the administration of justice. Last Tuesday in Tacloban City, men on a motorcycle pulled up to a car driven by Rogelio Bato Jr. and opened fire with a rifle and a .45-caliber handgun. Bato and his companion, a 15-year-old girl, did not stand a chance. The gunmen escaped. Bato was the lawyer of Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera town in Leyte. The mayor had been identified by President Duterte as one of the local government officials allegedly involved in drug trafficking. Espinosa pointed to his son Kerwin as the drug dealer. Kerwin is at large and believed to be abroad, but six of their family's bodyguards were also shot dead during a police raid on one of their homes after Espinosa presented himself to the Philippine National Police. [continues 176 words]
THE wave of "terrifying" drug killings is an indication of lawlessness and not crime control, human rights group Amnesty International (AI) said on Wednesday. The group issued the statement after Philippine National Police chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa informed the Senate that unidentified persons or groups have killed at least 1,067 people while the police shot dead more than 712 drug suspects in legitimate operations since July 1. "[The killings] is a terrifying indication that the authorities are grossly failing in their obligations to respect and protect the right to life," Amnesty said. [continues 534 words]
The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports of more deaths in the crackdown on illegal drugs in the Philippines, with US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urging the Duterte administration to ensure law enforcers observe human rights norms. The US voiced its concern after Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate panel on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1. Malacanang said it respects the US's expressing such concern. [continues 531 words]
But "meth," or methamphetamine hydrochloride, short for shabu, is something else, the President pointed out. Shabu addicts were initially described as the "living dead" by President Rodrigo Duterte when he made an impassioned speech last week in defense of his administration's deadly literally campaign against illegal drugs. A few days later, President Duterte called these shabu dependents as the "walking dead" in our midst. Perhaps, the President was able to watch last week the first episode of the popular "Walking Dead" TV series now being locally carried at TV5 every Thursday night. "Walking Dead" is a fictional apocalyptic weekly series in US setting where zombies, or the undead, prey and feed upon human beings. [continues 962 words]
SOME Filipinos view the recent surge in drug-related killings as a "necessary evil in pursuit of greater good," according to President Duterte's chief economic adviser. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia yesterday admitted that the impression of the international business community on Mr. Duterte's approach in stemming illegal drugs may affect the country's business environment. The economics professor from the University of the Philippines urged the media to interview individuals who were supportive of the President's war on drugs. [continues 244 words]
MANILA - The soaring number of killings by the police in the Philippines is being caused by drug suspects who choose to battle officers instead of surrendering, the nation's top police official told lawmakers on Tuesday. "If they did not fight it out with police, they would be alive," said the national police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, who is heading the country's deadly antidrug war. He said the number of deaths since the campaign began on July 1 had jumped to 1,916 - 137 more than the figure he gave senators on Monday, the first of two days of hearings devoted to the killings. He said on Tuesday that reports of killings came in daily from police units around the country. "As I was presenting yesterday," he said, "there were people killed." [continues 725 words]
The witnesses' narratives had a common thread: the victims were low-level drug pushers silenced by corrupt law enforcers who were either their protectors or suppliers in the illegal drug trade. This emerged at the first Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings led by the committee on justice and human rights, chaired by Sen. Leila de Lima, and the committee on public order and illegal drugs chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa told the joint hearing that as of yesterday, the PNP had tallied 712 suspects killed in legitimate operations, of whom 269 were reported in Metro Manila, since the Duterte administration launched its war on drugs on July 1. [continues 1018 words]
MANILA - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 548 words]
MANILA, Philippines - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 175 words]
MANILA - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Mr. Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 964 words]
ALL FILIPINOS, whether public officials or ordinary citizens, have the right to due process. It is a human right guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution that President Duterte swore to uphold and defend. It is sorely disappointing to see the President disregard this constitutional right as he voices no objection to the killing of suspected drug pushers by the police or by vigilantes, and accuses police officers, local executives, judges and other officials of being drug lords or their protectors without the benefit of a thorough, completed criminal investigation. Without presenting solid evidence to back up his public allegations, President Duterte, the most powerful public official of our land, has embarked on a chilling, sickening name-and-shame campaign that is in effect an unjust, unlawful and unconstitutional trial by publicity. [continues 666 words]
THE Senate opens today an inquiry into the ongoing anti-drugs campaign of the Duterte administration which has already resulted in hundreds of deaths, thousands of arrests, and tens of thousands of surrenders of both pushers and users. Over 800 had already been killed by the middle of last month and the figure continues to grow, raising fears of human rights violations. In the last few days, there have been considerable fireworks around the person of Sen. Leila de Lima, whose Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights is to conduct the inquiry. President Duterte has accused her of having an affair with her driver who allegedly collected drug money for her inside the New Bilibid Prison. Last Friday, she called most of the charges "lies, distortions, and exaggerations," but did admit some of it were true "may kaunting totoo." [continues 337 words]
Resents Criticisms of His Antidrug War PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against the world body for criticizing his ruthless war on drugs. More than 1,500 people have been killed since Mr. Duterte took office on June 30 and immediately launched a take-noprisoners crackdown on illegal drugs, drawing fierce criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. A lawyer notorious for an acid tongue, Mr. Duterte has repeatedly told the United Nations not to interfere, calling the world body "stupid" for its criticisms. [continues 964 words]
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promise to stop crime and corruption in six months must be pressuring the police into killing X-number of suspects by his 50th day in office, his 100th, and so forth, in a bloody race to meet the quotas by deadline time. The Commander's shoot-to-kill order (if the suspect fights back, kuno) has seen many police officers committing their first murder, executing suspects whose guilt has not been established and who in some instances were begging for their lives. [continues 588 words]
Malacanang yesterday criticized as "baseless and reckless" a United Nations statement that President Duterte's bloody war on drugs amounted to a crime under international law. Duterte's chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo told AFP the administration was not behind the extrajudicial killings targeting alleged criminal suspects, challenging UN human rights experts to visit the Philippines and investigate. Two UN rights experts said Thursday that Duterte's directives calling on law enforcers and the public to kill suspected drug traffickers "amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law." [continues 341 words]
They are also right in calling for divine intervention in the lives of addicts so they may find strength in shaking off their dependency on drugs. No doubt prayer works, but there is no secret formula that could bring about the change everybody wants to see the easy way the elimination of the drug menace in the country. Such major surgery involves searing pain. THE time to get involved in the affairs of this country is now, and the evangelicals are on the right track in coming up with a pastoral letter that supports the campaign against the drug menace while condemning the unwarranted killings of addicts and pushers. [continues 359 words]
THE WAR of words between President Duterte and the United Nations escalated on Thursday, with a UN envoy warning that "state actors" could be held responsible over hundreds of killings in the government's controversial crackdown on illegal drugs. Challenged by presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo to come over and see for herself the real situation, UN special rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard tweeted on Friday: "Invitation to investigate welcomed. Ready to 'see for myself.'" In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the "seeming incomprehension by local and international observers" was "more alarming than the pandemic use and trade of illegal drugs in the Philippines." [continues 762 words]
The person accused of wrongdoing is a senator, and it is his duty, President Duterte said, to tell the truth to the nation. On Wednesday he hurled serious accusations against Sen. Leila de Lima, saying she had an affair with her married driver who collected drug payola from convicts at the New Bilibid Prison. While the President said he was not sure if the drug money was forwarded to De Lima when she was the secretary of justice, he added that this seemed to be the case. The story about the driver is not new. As early as 2014, jueteng whistleblower Sandra Cam had alleged that the driver, identified as Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, had been made an employee of the Department of Justice and was acting as an influence peddler in the DOJ and its attached agencies. [continues 239 words]
IT'S easy to dismiss the search for justice by the mother of suspected drug lord Alvaro "Barok" Alvaro for her other son Medz, who was shot dead by policemen in a buy-bust operation in Danao City last Aug. 11. Also killed in that operation was Medz's alleged cohort, Ronnie Castro. For believers in the method used by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in its campaign against the illegal drugs trade, relatives of Medz and Castro have lost their right to question the manner of their death because of their supposed involvement in criminal acts. But Emma Alvaro has as much a right to seek an investigation of the incident as relatives of victims of vehicular accidents. [continues 273 words]
MANILA - Even amid the slaughter of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the killings of Renato and Jaypee Bertes stand out. The Bertes men, father and son, shared a tiny, concrete room with six other people in a metropolitan Manila slum, working odd jobs when they could find them. Both smoked shabu, a cheap form of methamphetamine that has become a scourge in the Philippines. Sometimes Jaypee Bertes sold it in small amounts, relatives said. So it was unsurprising when the police raided their room last month. [continues 1297 words]
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