The mayor was accused of drug-trafficking.

A Philippine mayor accused of drug trafficking was killed along with nine bodyguards in a shoot-out with police on Friday, authorities said, hours after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to intensify his crackdown on crime.

Samsudin Dimaukom, the mayor of the southern town of Saudi Ampatuan, was one of the more than 150 local government officials, judges and police identified by Mr. Duterte earlier this year as being involved in the illegal drug trade.

The deadly crime war has claimed more than 3,800 lives and drawn criticism from the United States, the United Nations and international rights groups who have accused the police of summarily executing suspects.

Police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo said that Dimaukom and his security personnel opened fire after anti-narcotics police stopped their vehicles at a checkpoint on suspicion they were transporting illegal drugs.

Officers returned fire, killing the men in the town of Makilala, about 950 kilometres south of the capital Manila.

“Suspects [were] heavily armed and fired upon the law enforcers, which prompted them to fire back,” Mr. Galgo said.

Dimaukom made a name for himself by funding the construction of a pink mosque in Saudi Ampatuan in a plea for peace in the town which has been wracked by violence.

Muslim rebels have been waging a separatist insurgency in the southern Philippines for decades.

Mr. Duterte, who swept to power in May elections on a pledge to eradicate drugs, has described his critics as “fools” and has said he is not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals.

After returning from a trip to Japan late Thursday, he threatened to step up police killings of drug suspects.

“If my wish to get rid [of illegal drugs] in my country is not granted, you can expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more. There is a war going on,” he said. </s> Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, a Muslim autonomous area of Mindanao, was shot along with a number of his bodyguards while allegedly transporting illegal drugs.

The report states that police had set up a highway roadblock aimed at apprehending the mayor based on a tip.

He, along with his wife, surrendered themselves to provincial police in August to clear their names and deny involvement.

At the roadblock early Friday morning, an "armed encounter" between Dimaukom's men and police ensued, the report says, with law enforcement officials responding to fire from the mayor's bodyguards, leaving 10 men dead. Duterte was elected to office in May on a platform of a hardline crackdown on crime, particularly illegal drugs. Since taking office in early June, his police force has waged a bloody war on drug dealers and users, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Filipino drug suspects at the hands of police. Hundreds more have been killed by vigilantes. Many thousands of others have been coerced into registering with their local authorities as drug users in so-called " knock and plead " operations. Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told CNN that all deaths at the hands of police in the country are the result of justified shootings in self-defense. Critics say police are acting with impunity. There's been no evidence presented that Dimaukom was involved in the drug trade. A woman cradles her husband, next to a placard which reads "I'm a pusher," who was shot dead in Manila on July 23, 2016. Police patrol a shanty community at night during curfew on June 8, 2016 in Manila. Philippine police have been conducting frequent night raids and revived a curfew for minors that has not been enforced for years. Some 1,000 people whom authorities accused of being drug users and dealers take an oath before local authorities after turning themselves in in Tanauan, the Philippines, on July 18, 2016. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte swept to power on a promise to clamp down on drugs in a two-month crime blitz, encouraging police and even civilians to shoot drug dealers. The country has seen a surge in killings of suspected dealers. A man authorities accused of being a drug user is fingerprinted during the mass surrender of some 1,000 alleged drug users and pushers in the Philippine town of Tanauan, located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Manila on July 18, 2016. A social worker gives counseling to those who have turned themselves in for drug-related crimes in the Philippines on July 18, 2016. A Philippine police forensic investigator displays packets of drugs and a hand gun found inside a shanty where members of a suspected drug syndicate were killed after a shootout with police on July 3, 2016. A suspected female member of a drug syndicate is presented by police in Manila on June 22, 2016. A gun, bullets, marked money and sachets of crystal meth are laid on a table after a drug raid in Manila on June 20, 2016. Police officers stand in formation before the start of "Oplan Rody" on June 1, 2016, a law enforcement operation named after President Duterte, whose nickname is Rody. Dimaukom is not the first elected official implicated in the drug war. Rolando Espinosa, the mayor of Albuera, on the island province of Leyte, was arrested in August. His son, Kerwin Espinosa, 35, is accused by Duterte of being one of the biggest illegal drug operators in the Eastern Visayas region and was arrested earlier in October in Abu Dhabi. He had been on a "shoot on sight" list. Also earlier this month, the Philippines Senate Committee -- led by a Duterte ally -- decided to stop investigating the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and users during the President's first few months in office. The senator heading the committee when the investigation began, a fierce critic of Duterte, was ousted by the President's allies in September. </s> Noel Celis, AFP | An alleged drug dealer is handcuffed during a police operation conducted in Manila on March 15, 2018. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced Wednesday a move towards quitting the ICC, which has launched a preliminary examination.

Philippine police said Thursday they had shot dead 13 drug suspects, just days after President Rodrigo Duterte moved to take the country out of the International Criminal Court over its inquiry into his deadly drug war.

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The suspects were killed Wednesday in the northern province of Bulacan, an official statement said, an area where police have previously launched lethal crackdowns on illegal drugs.

"Bulacan police are continuously and relentlessly implementing their intensified campaign against illegal drugs," the statement said, adding there had been more than 100 arrests.

The war crimes tribunal, based in The Hague, last month launched a preliminary inquiry into Duterte's bloody crackdown on narcotics, amid allegations Philippine security forces may have committed crimes against humanity.

Killings are 'systematic and widespread', says HRW's Carlos Conde

Philippine police have said they have killed roughly 4,100 suspects who fought back during arrest, but rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher and accuse the authorities of murder.

"The president himself has denied access to the special rapporteur and has launched a vicious attack against the United Nations and the rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, undermining her credibility and discouraging her from investigating these killings,” Carlos Conde, a researcher for Human Rights Watch Asia Division, told FRANCE 24.

'A determined evasion of accountability'

The war crimes tribunal opened in 2002 to try abuses in countries where national courts cannot or will not prosecute. Manila in 2011 ratified the Rome Statute that created the court.

Manila gave official notice to the United Nations last week that it would withdraw, days after Duterte announced his country would quit the court over alleged "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks" against his government's rights record.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said last Friday the Philippines was pushing back against "the well-orchestrated campaign to mislead the international community, to crucify President Duterte... by distorting the human rights situation in the country".

The tribunal has urged Manila to reconsider its decision, adding that officially quitting the court requires a year's notice and does not preclude its preliminary inquiry into the drug war killings, which have drawn international concern.

Duterte, who is buoyed by high popularity ratings at home, has fiercely defended the drug war as a battle to bring safety to the nation's 100 million people.

He has frequently urged authorities to kill drug suspects while promising to protect police from legal sanction.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP) </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte raised the rhetoric over his bloody anti-crime war to a new level Friday, comparing it to Hitler and the Holocaust and saying he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million addicts.

Duterte issued his latest threat against drug dealers and users early Friday on returning to his hometown in southern Davao city after visiting Vietnam, where he discussed his anti-drug campaign with Vietnamese leaders and ways for their governments to fight transnational crimes, including illegal drugs.

Duterte has said his public death threats against drug suspects are designed to scare them to stop selling drugs and to discourage would-be users. But his latest remarks took that crime-busting approach to a different level.

He said he had been “portrayed or pictured to be a cousin of Hitler,” without elaborating.

Moments later he said, “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews ... there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”

He was referring to a Philippine government estimate of the number of drug addicts in the country. Historians say 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis under Hitler before and during World War II.

During the presidential election campaign earlier this year and during the three months he has held office, the tough-talking Duterte has threatened to drown drug suspects to fatten the fish in Manila Bay. He also threatened to execute drug traffickers by hanging – because he didn’t want to waste electricity on them – until their heads were severed from their bodies.

While Hitler’s victims were innocent people, Duterte said his targets are “all criminals” and that getting rid of them would “finish the (drug) problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”

Germany’s government slammed Duterte’s comments as unacceptable, and called in the Philippine ambassador to the Foreign Ministry over the matter.

“It is impossible to make any comparison to the unique atrocities of the Shoah and Holocaust,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer in Berlin.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said Duterte’s remarks were “revolting” and demanded that he retract them and apologize.

“Drug abuse is a serious issue. But what President Duterte said is not only profoundly inhumane, but it demonstrates an appalling disrespect for human life that is truly heartbreaking for the democratically elected leader of a great country,” Lauder said in a statement issued from Jerusalem, where he was attending the funeral of former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.

Philippine Rep. Teodoro Baguilat wondered if the president was suggesting that “it’s open season now for all addicts, no more rehabilitation, just kill them systematically like what the Nazis did with the Jews.” He expressed fears that Jewish businesspeople might boycott the Philippines.

Also critical was Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, who said it was baffling why anyone would want to compare themselves to “one of the largest mass murderers in human history.”

Robertson said that in today’s context, Hitler would be accused of crimes against humanity.

“Is that what Duterte wants? Does he want to be sent to the international criminal court? Because he’s working his way there,” Robertson said.

Amnesty International said Duterte “has sunk to new depths” and urged governments around the world to condemn his “extremely dangerous outburst.”

A spokesman for Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem-based world centre for Holocaust research and commemoration, declined to comment on Duterte’s remarks.

Duterte’s campaign promise to end corruption and crime, especially illegal drugs, within six months of taking office on June 30 carried him to an overwhelming victory in May’s presidential election.

Since the vote, more than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed and nearly 700,000 others have surrendered in his crackdown. Duterte has asked for a six-month extension to finish the job.

His supporters and many Filipinos exasperated with widespread crime have welcomed his tough approach, but a growing number of critics, including U.N. officials, the European Union and the United States, have voiced concerns over the widespread killings and human rights violations.

He reacted Friday by calling critics from the European Union a “group of idiots in the purest form.”

Duterte lashed out at the U.S., his country’s longtime treaty ally, and the E.U. for finding fault with his methods, saying European countries were hypocrites for not doing enough to help the large numbers of refugees fleeing from the violence in the Middle East.

“There are migrants escaping from the Middle East. You allow them to rot and then you’re worried about the deaths of about 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 (people in the Philippines),” he said. </s> KORONADAL, Philippines — A Philippine town mayor who was publicly identified by President Rodrigo Duterte as a drug trafficking suspect was gunned down Friday with nine of his men at a police checkpoint, in one of the bloodiest operations since the crackdown was launched.

Little over a month after he took office on a promise to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs, Duterte in August read out the names of more than 150 officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs, among them Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan township in southern Maguindanao province.

The mayor had turned himself in to police and denied he was involved in the illegal drug trade. He had told the media that he was fighting illegal drugs himself and supported Duterte’s crackdown.

At dawn Friday, Dimaukom and the nine others were killed they opened fire from three cars on officers at a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province, Superintendent Bernard Tayong said.

“It was a legitimate anti-drug operation but the subjects opened fire on our troops,” regional police official Superintendent Romeo Galgo Jr. told reporters.

Police said they had received information that Dimaukom’s group was planning to transport a “huge” amount of methamphetamine — a prohibited and extremely addictive stimulant drug locally known as shabu — from Davao city, Duterte’s hometown, to Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.

Police estimate more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. The crackdown has drawn international concern over extrajudicial killings, but Duterte has repeatedly dismissed criticism and vowed to keep his election promise to rid the country of drugs.

Arriving from a state visit to Japan late Thursday, Duterte appeared to issue another warning, saying that thousands of drug suspects may end up dead. He expressed disgust over criticism leveled against him while he battles a drug menace that he said has left many of police officers dead.

“And to say that I should behave and keep on harping on that … I’ll tell you I will triple it,” Duterte said. “If my wishes aren’t followed …you can expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more.”

“There is a war going on, I am losing two, three policemen a day. It’s a war, how could it be a … genocide, killing a helpless person there, kneeling,” he said. “There’s none of that, we do not gather children and young men and shoot them.” </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announces the disbandment of police operations against illegal drugs at the Malacanang palace in Manila, Philippines early January 30, 2017. Source: Reuters/Ezra Acayan

PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte has announced that the Southeast Asian nation will remove itself from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a month after prosecutors from the Hague-based court announced they would be launching a preliminary investigation into his controversial drug war.

In a long statement dated March 13, Duterte said that Philippines would be removing its ratification of the Rome Statute immediately due to “unprecedented and outrageous attacks on my person … engineered by the officials of the United Nations” and a supposed “violation of due process”.

The announcement of the investigation by the ICC was premature and implied he had already been charged for serious crimes, Duterte said.

SEE ALSO: Duterte declares he is a ‘dictator’ as ICC launches investigation into drug war

The president also said UN special rapporteurs – likely referring to Agnes Callamard the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings – had been undertaking a “concerted effort” to paint him as a “ruthless and heartless” violator of human rights.

He has long publicly attacked Callamard, referring to her as a “son of a bitch”, “stupid”, “skinny” and “malnourished”.

In February the International Criminal Court (ICC) officially announced it was launching a preliminary investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the body would be looking into extrajudicial killings in the Philippines as part of anti-drug operations.

Duterte’s signature drug war began in June 2016 and has been widely condemned by rights groups, political opponents and the Catholic church in the Philippines.

SEE ALSO: UN rights chief says Duterte needs ‘psychiatric evaluation’

Human Rights Watch estimated earlier in 2018 that more than 12,000 people have been killed by police and plain clothed gunmen since the anti-drug campaign began. Official statistics put the number of dead at around 4000.

Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that Duterte was simply trying to “run from justice” by pulling out of the Rome Statute and was “a barefaced attempt to shield him and high-ranking officials from possible ICC prosecution”.

Amnesty International Asia Director James Gomez said that “if the Philippines truly believed that the ICC did not have jurisdiction over crimes committed in the country, they should challenge that in the proper way – which is at the ICC. Instead, they have taken the cowardly option of trying to evade justice.”

Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano denied that it was attempt to avoid prosecution by the ICC, however. “To prove that it’s not a way of evading or getting away from consequences or the jurisdiction of ICC … even if we withdraw, our actions back when we’re a member are still covered,” he said as quoted by the state-run Philippine News Agency.

SEE ALSO: CIA, US intel agencies list Duterte, Hun Sen as ‘regional threats’

A month ago, Duterte declared: “do not worry about me. I can face the ICC. If they want to indict me and convict me, fine. I will gladly do it for my country.” He also said he would “love” to be executed by firing squad if found guilty by the ICC. Now, however, the president has changed his tune.

“The preliminary examination by the prosecutor Fatou Besouda unduly and maliciously created, it is apparent that the ICC is being utilised as a political tool against the Philippines,” said Duterte, who claimed the ICC was exhibiting a “clear bias” against himself and his administration.

Filipino lawyer Jude Sabio lodged a complaint with the ICC last April claiming that Duterte had “repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously” committed crimes against humanity. The ICC has only publicly indicted 41 people from thousands of complaints since its inception in 2002. </s> The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has said he would have his son killed if drug trafficking allegations against the younger politician were true, and that the police who carry out the hit would be protected from prosecution.



Paolo Duterte, 42, appeared this month before a senate inquiry to deny accusations made by an opposition lawmaker that he was a member of a Chinese triad gang who helped smuggle in a huge shipment of crystal methamphetamine from China.

Duterte did not refer to the allegations specifically but reiterated his statement from last year’s election campaign that none of his children were involved in drugs, but they would face the harshest punishment if they were.

“I said before my order was: ‘If I have children who are into drugs, kill them so people will not have anything to say,’” Duterte said in a speech on Wednesday night in front of government workers at the presidential palace in Manila.

“So I told Pulong [Paolo’s nickname]: ‘My order is to kill you if you are caught. And I will protect the police who kill you, if it is true,’” he said.

Duterte, 72, won the presidential elections on a brutal law-and-order platform in which he promised an unprecedented campaign to eradicate illegal drugs in society by killing up to 100,000 traffickers and addicts.

Since he assumed office in the middle of last year, police have reported killing more than 3,800 people in anti-drug operations while thousands of others have been murdered in unexplained circumstances.

Thousands of his critics and supporters held rival rallies on Thursday, taking national debates over his deadly drug war and martial-law threats to the streets.

Police in battle uniforms were mustered to keep order as protesters held a series of rallies across Manila, using the 45th anniversary of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposing martial law to say Duterte was equally violent and authoritarian.

“Our country is turning into a graveyard. People are getting killed every day and we bury the dead every day, just like in the time of Marcos,” anti-Duterte protest leader Pedro Gonzales said.

But supporters of Duterte also turned up in large numbers, reflecting his popularity with many Filipinos who see him as a charismatic, anti-establishment politician who is their best chance to quell crime and corruption.

As president, Duterte has said he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts, and described children shot dead in the drug war as “collateral damage”. But he has also repeatedly insisted he has never instructed police to do anything illegal, and that they must only kill in self-defence.

The anti-Duterte protesters were backed by the political opposition and leaders of the Catholic church, the country’s dominant religion, signalling a rising opposition to Duterte.

Leni Robredo, the vice-president, and Benigno Aquino, Duterte’s predecessor – both critics of the incumbent leader – attended a separate mass on Thursday for those killed in the drug war. “The good part of this is there are so many people concerned, from different ages,” Aquino told reporters.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, denounced the drug killings at another mass on Thursday, saying Catholics must do more than lighting candles for the dead and helping orphans. “Stand up. To keep quiet in the face of evil is a sin,” he said. </s> The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on March 14, 2018 10:15 AM

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte points to photographers during an awarding ceremony for outstanding government workers, at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ezra Acayan/File Photo

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Wednesday it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to what President Rodrigo Duterte called "outrageous" attacks by U.N. officials and violations of due process by the ICC.

The decision marks an about-face by Duterte, who initially welcomed a preliminary ICC examination announced last month into a complaint, filed by a Philippine lawyer, that accuses him and top officials of crimes against humanity, committed during a war on drugs that has killed thousands of people.

A 15-page statement, dated March 13 and not signed by Duterte, said the withdrawal from the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, was "effective immediately".

That was confirmed separately by Duterte's spokesman and his legal counsel, who both said the ICC's examination was part of a plot by the president's enemies.

Duterte's statement said the withdrawal was because of "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks" by U.N. officials, and what he said was an attempt by the ICC prosecutor to seek jurisdiction over him "in violation of due process and presumption of innocence".

ICC spokesman Fadi el Abdallah referred most questions to the court's prosecutors, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Duterte's war on drugs has caused international alarm and fierce criticism from some U.N. rapporteurs and officials, including U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, who on Friday said Duterte should submit himself for a psychiatric examination.

The maverick former mayor has sparred relentlessly with critics and refused to change his approach, or accept that police may have executed suspected dealers, as activists allege.

Police deny allegations of murder and cover-ups and say they killed about 4,100 drug dealers in shootouts. Police say they have no ties to armed men responsible for the deaths of about 2,300 drug users and peddlers.

Duterte, who is hugely popular among Filipinos, has no love for the ICC, calling it "useless" and "hypocritical".

He at first dared the ICC to indict him, saying he was willing to rot in jail for his people. He then said he would prefer a firing squad to prison.

He has recently changed his tune, telling security forces not to cooperate should there be any international investigation. He last week said the ICC would "not in a million years" have jurisdiction.

The ICC's preliminary examination into the complaint seeks to establish whether crimes have taken place. Such a process typically takes years.

Jude Sabio, the Philippine lawyer who filed the ICC complaint last year, said Duterte's move was predictable, futile and designed to appeal to his base.

"Looks like they are really afraid. Why? They feel that this will proceed to an investigation," Sabio told Reuters.

"His statement is only good for politics, just so his supporters can hear that he is withdrawing from the ICC. But it will have no binding legal effect."

According to ICC rules, the withdrawal becomes effective one year after receipt of the notification. Duterte and the Philippines are under the jurisdiction of the ICC as a result of being a member, and pulling out would not change that jurisdiction retroactively.

The ICC can only intervene in a member state when that state is unable or unwilling to carry out investigations and prosecute suspected perpetrators. The Philippines says its legal processes are functional and independent.

Senator Antonio Trillanes, who filed supplementary communications to support Sabio's complaint, said the withdrawal was flip-flopping by Duterte, who "knows that there is no way out for him in the ICC".

"Duterte, by withdrawing from the ICC, has practically admitted that he is guilty of the allegations filed against him," he said in a statement. </s> MANILA, Philippines — 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.

According to a survey early last month, he has the support of nearly 91 percent of Filipinos. The independent poll was done during his first week in office, and no new surveys have come out since then.

National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing this week that police have recorded more than 1,900 dead, including 756 suspected drug dealers and users who were gunned down after they resisted arrest. More than 1,000 other deaths are under investigation, and some of them may not be drug-related, he said.

Jayeel Cornelio, a doctor of sociology and director of Ateneo de Manila University’s Development Studies Program, said he suspects only a few of Duterte’s supporters are disillusioned by the killings and his rhetoric because voters trust his campaign promise to crush drug criminals. They also find resonance in his cursing and no-holds-barred comments.

Duterte’s death threats against criminals, his promise to battle corruption, his anti-establishment rhetoric and gutter humor have enamored Filipinos living on the margins of society. He overwhelmingly won the election, mirroring public exasperation over the social ills he condemns.

Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has said the killings “may be a necessary evil in the pursuit of a greater good,” a sentiment echoed by a deluge of comments by Duterte supporters in social media deriding his critics and defending the brutal war on drugs.

“The killings are OK so there will be less criminals, drug pushers and drug addicts in our society,” said Rex Alisoso, a 25-year-old cleaner in Manila. He said people have gotten used to the way Duterte talks and voted for him knowing his ways.

Kim Labasan, a Manila shopkeeper, said she does not like Duterte’s constant swearing, his “stepping on too many toes,” and his decision to allow late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery. But she supports the anti-drug war despite the rising death toll because, she said, she has personally seen the effects of drugs. Addicts in her hometown north of Manila have ended up with “poisoned brains” and even robbed her family’s home.

“A battle of moralities is being waged right now by this administration — before, if you were a human rights advocate you are a hero of the country, now you are seen as someone who can destroy the country,” Cornelio said.

He said that Duterte fosters “penal populism” — identifying a particular enemy, a criminal, and then hunting him down to death. Because the results are visible, tangible and people feel it, “it becomes more important than many other things to the ordinary person.”

Duterte has said drugs were destroying the country. In his State of the Nation Address last month, he said “human rights cannot be used as a shield or an excuse to destroy the country.”

He also lashed out at U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, calling him gay in derogatory terms, after he criticized Duterte’s rape comments during the presidential campaign. He threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations because of U.N. comments condemning extrajudicial killings, saying he did not “give a s---” about the consequences. The following day, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the Philippines was not leaving the U.N. and Duterte made the comment only because he was tired, angry and frustrated.

Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, said Duterte “is steamrolling the rule of law and its advocates both at home and abroad.” The killings suggest his aggressive rhetoric advocating extrajudicial solutions to criminality has found a receptive audience, Kine said.

“His supporters are cheering him on, but wait till one of them is killed,” said Ferdie Monasterio, a driver of a ride-sharing company who doesn’t support Duterte. “He is no different from Marcos and it looks like he wants to establish a dictatorship.”

Cornelio said the death toll is not the clincher in turning public sentiment against Duterte, because a lot of people look at them as justified killings. He said that Dutere’s first year will be crucial since he promised quick action.

“I think the threshold has to do with the delivery of the promises,” he said.
In alleged emulation of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announces orders for police to "shoot" suspected drug dealers without trial.