In President Rodrigo Duterte's Philippines, the police, with his explicit support, have killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and users without due process, some while they were in jail, or asleep, or at home with their families. They allegedly shot a 17-year-old while he was in custody, then dumped his remains in an alley. The youngest victim was 4.

Human rights groups, the U.S. Congress, the European Union and the United Nations have all condemned Duterte's "war on drugs." Yet when President Trump meets Duterte in Manila, it probably won't enter the conversation.

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MANILA -- When investigators from the Philippine Commission on Human Rights first arrived at Police Station No. 1, nothing seemed amiss.

They were working a tip about people being plucked from the slums by police, held captive and ransomed for money at the station. But as they surveyed the office of the local anti-drug unit, things looked normal: desks, two sofas, a bookshelf.

Officers kept glancing at the bookshelf.

With news cameras rolling and police looking on, an investigator knocked on it. Someone knocked back. When the false door was finally opened, they found a dozen people packed in a small, concrete cell, one bloodied, one with a swollen jaw.

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MANILA - Every morning before dawn, Rosario Perez checks to make sure her sons are still alive. The three brothers, all in their 20s, sleep at the houses of friends and relatives, moving regularly, hoping that whoever may have been assigned to kill them won't catch up with them.

They are not witnesses on a mob hit list, or gang members hiding from rivals. They are simply young men living in the Philippines of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"How could I not send them to hide?" said Ms. Perez, 47, after peeking in on two of her sons and phoning the third. "We can barely sleep out of fear."

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DAVAO CITY, Philippines - Gen. Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, knows the value of a public display of remorse. He has been forced to apologize more than once.

He was wrong, he acknowledged before the Philippine Senate as TV cameras rolled, to have trusted undisciplined policemen who killed a small-town mayor suspected of dealing drugs, as the mayor lay defenseless on a jail-cell floor.

"I cannot blame the public if they're losing their trust and confidence in their police," he told the Senate panel, accepting a tissue from the mayor's son to wipe away his tears.

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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs would not be affected by the abduction-slay of a South Korean businessman by the anti-drug police operatives, his chief legal counsel said.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Duterte would not allow any members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to further commit irregularities.

Panelo said the Chief Executive would make sure that the police officials involved in the killing of Hanjin executive Jee Ick-joo would face legal consequences.

"Regarding the murdered Korean businessman, the President will not tolerate any police abuse. All these police scalawags will be dealt with and prosecuted to the fullest under the law," Panelo said in a chance interview.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- A US newspaper called on Washington to make sure that US aid to the Philippines is not used for President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial ran weeks before the kidnap-for-ransom-murder of a South Korean expatriate in the hands of Philippine National Police officers -- in the guise of an anti-drug operation--came to light and triggered an international outcry.

The Post-Gazette editorialized on Jan. 2 that "Even in a roomful of tinhorn dictators, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines would out."

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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.

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[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.

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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.

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Also Threatens To Kill Governors, Bomb Kidnappers

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday denied claims he wants to declare martial law to extend his term in office.

But Duterte talked tough, threatening to kill provincial governors involved in drugs after saying the same to mayors last week, and ordered security forces to bomb kidnap gangs even if they held hostages.

Speaking before the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the President stressed he had no ambition to prolong his stay in power.

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SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday said two incumbent members of the House of Representatives are included in President Duterte's list of politicians who are allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade.

He said he received him a copy of the validated list last month.

"Iyung listahan na ibinigay sa akin, validated, ibig sabihin marami nang ahensiya ang pinanggalingan pero on my part dino-double check ko pa rin," Alvarez told a press conference.

He refused to identify the two lawmakers or even say their gender, but said he is convinced of the involvement of one of the two who is a fellow Mindanaoan.

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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.

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The 81 barangays in Cebu Province that were initially declared by the police as drug-free are still subject for validation, a top-ranking official said Tuesday, January 3.

Chief Superintendent Noli Talino, Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas director, said that it is up to the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) to declare a barangay free from drugs.

"Yung sa amin, hindi pa naman final yung report ng Cebu Province. Ang sabi ko sa kanila for recommendation as a drug-free barangay pero hindi pa final yun. Ipapa-validate pa natin 'yun (For our part, the report from the Cebu Province is not yet final. What I told them was only to submit a recommendation of drug-free barangays but these are not yet final. This (recommendation) will still be validated," said Talino. "So if I will not approve it then it's back to zero."

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking populist who took office in June, has earned international condemnation for ordering or encouraging thousands of extrajudicial killings intended to rid the country of illegal drugs and bragging about personally having killed people.

But at home, he remains extremely popular, with approval ratings topping 60%, and firmly in command, with his supporters controlling Congress, the courts and the police and military.

His detractors have found some hope in an unlikely figure: the vice president.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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WITH five more barangays in the city still drug-affected, Mayor Belen Fernandez said the drug clearing operations by the police and barangay officials will continue even during the holidays, until Dagupan City is 100 percent drug free.

So far, 26 of the 31 barangays have already been declared drug-free.

The five barangays yet to be cleared are Lasip Chico, Pantal, Barangay 2&3, Calmay and Pugaro.

At the same time, she said the SURE program launched by the city government for drug users who surrendered is also continuing.

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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.

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