Police records and data gathered by Al Jazeera show close to 6,000 killed since new president took office on June 30.

*This story was first published on August 25. Last updated on December 13.

*Police records show 5,882 people were killed across the country since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30. Of that number 2,041 drug suspects were killed during police operations from July 1 to December 6, while another 3,841 were killed by unknown gunmen from July 1 to November 30, according to a local website. Among the latest fatalities was a seven-year-old child on the island of Cebu, who was hit by a stray bullet on December 3, while unknown gunmen were chasing a teenage boy accused of selling drugs.

*Based on other sources collected by Al Jazeera, there have been an estimated 5,946 deaths. The number does not include cases still to be reported by police or news outlets in the provinces after December 6.

*Al Jazeera has gathered the information of 1,485 people who were killed and the cause of their deaths.

Almost six months into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, police records and data gathered by Al Jazeera show the death toll in his anti-drug war has almost reached 6,000.

Despite the mounting toll, Duterte was quoted as saying on Monday that fewer people were being killed, adding "most of them have been finished off anyway, I am not kidding".

On Tuesday, he announced the release of $20m to fund the medicine for patients undergoing drug rehabilitation.

Recently, human rights groups and activists have denounced the Philippine leader for "steamrolling the rule of law".

Top clerics of the Catholic Church have also stepped up criticism against Duterte's drug war policy, while expressing opposition to his plan to re-impose the death penalty on heinous crimes, including drug-related offences.

INFOGRAPHIC: Who's liable for the mounting death toll?

In August, Duterte hailed his anti-drug campaign saying of the three million suspected drug dependents in the country, 600,000 have turned themselves in to authorities.

While saying it does not condone extra-judicial killings, the office of the president said the country should "seize the momentum" in its campaign against illegal drugs.

Duterte took his oath as president on June 30 and has vowed to keep his campaign promise of solving the country's illegal drug problem, saying, "I don't care about human rights, believe me."

As of December 13, an Al Jazeera investigation has collected information from 1,485 people who were killed across the country. </s> An average of 44 people are being killed each day in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on crime, according to police data released Tuesday that showed the death toll surging to nearly 3,000.

The new figures came after Duterte vowed on Monday to defy a wave of international condemnation and continue killing until every drug trafficker in the Philippines was dead.

"More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets," said Duterte, who scored a landslide election victory in May largely on his promise to fight crime.

"Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue."

Police have killed 1,033 people in anti-drug operations since Duterte was sworn into office just over two months ago, according to the national police update on Tuesday.

Another 1,894 people have died in unexplained deaths, police said, which rights groups believe are largely due to out-of-control security forces and hired assassins.

The total of 2,927 is more than 500 higher than the figure released by police on Sunday, and equates to an average of 44 a day since Duterte took office on June 30.

US President Barack Obama was planning to raise concerns about the war on crime with Duterte at a meeting in Laos on Tuesday afternoon.

But Obama cancelled the meeting after Duterte warned he would not be lectured to, and branded the US president a "son of a whore".

Philippine police insist they are killing only in self defence.

"They have guns, they are drug-crazed. Our policemen are just defending themselves," national police spokesman Dionardo Carlos told AFP.

Police chief Ronald dela Rosa has also regularly said the unexplained deaths are due to drug syndicates waging war against each other, rather than extrajudicial killings by vigilantes and others.

Still, Duterte has promised to protect police from prosecution if they are charged over the deaths and insisted human rights cannot get in the way of his war.

He has also urged ordinary Filipinos to kill drug addicts in their communities.

Dela Rosa last month called for drug addicts to kill traffickers and burn down their homes.

The United Nations special rapporteur on summary executions has warned incitement to kill is a crime under international law.

But Duterte has told the United Nations not to interfere and said he will use all means necessary to eradicate drugs in society, which he insists is the nation's biggest problem. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police said Wednesday that an updated report shows anti-drug operations in a northern province this week left 32 alleged drug offenders dead — 11 more than earlier reported as the highest death toll in a single day since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his war on drugs a year ago.

Senior Superintendent Romeo M. Caramat Jr. said 66 police operations in various parts of Bulacan province Tuesday left 32 suspects dead in encounters with police, while 107 others were arrested.

Confiscated during the operations were more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786 grams of marijuana, assorted firearms, grenades and ammunition.

Police records show that since the nationwide crackdown started, more than 3,200 alleged drug offenders have been killed in gunbattles with law enforcers. More than 2,000 others died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults.

Human rights groups report a higher toll and demand an independent investigation into Duterte’s possible role in the violence.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday vowed to forge on with his controversial war on drugs and said no amount of criticism or international pressure would deter him.

Delivering his annual State of the Nation address, Duterte said his critics at home and abroad should focus on using their influence to educate Filipinos of the ills of illicit drugs.

"No matter how long it takes, the fight against illegal drugs will continue because that is the root cause of so much evil and so much suffering," Duterte told lawmakers from both houses of Congress.



"The fight will be unremitting as it will be unrelenting," he said. "There is a jungle out there, there are beasts out there preying on the innocent, the helpless."

Duterte swept to victory in last year's presidential elections after promising an unprecedented crackdown on drugs in which tens of thousands of people would die.

Since he took office on Jun 30 last year, police have reported killing nearly 3,200 people in the drug war.

More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes, according to police data. Rights groups say many of those victims have been killed by vigilante death squads linked to the government.

Duterte on Monday also urged lawmakers to reintroduce the death penalty.

"I ask Congress to act on legislation to reimpose the death penalty on heinous crimes, especially illegal drug trafficking," Duterte said.

He emphasised that capital punishment was about "retribution" as much as deterrence.

"In the Philippines, it is really an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You took a life, you must pay it to die. That is the only way to get even."

The lower house of Congress this year passed a bill to bring back the death penalty, but the Senate has yet to approve it. </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday "plenty will be killed" before the end of his campaign against illegal drugs that has led to the death of about 2,400 people since he became president two months ago.

"Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed we will continue," Duterte told reporters before leaving for a regional summit on Laos. </s> More than 6,000 people have died in the seven months since President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an unprecedented war on drugs, which has drawn global criticism for alleged human rights abuses (AFP Photo/NOEL CELIS)

Manila (AFP) - Thousands of Catholic faithful gathered in the Philippine capital on Saturday for a "show of force" in the biggest rally yet to stop extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war.

More than 6,000 people have died since Duterte took office seven months ago and ordered an unprecedented crime war that has drawn global criticism for alleged human rights abuses, but is popular with many in the mainly Catholic country.

Members of one of the nation's oldest and most powerful institutions chanted prayers and sang hymns as they marched to condemn a "spreading culture of violence".

"We have to stand up. Somehow this is already a show of force by the faithful that they don't like these extrajudicial killings," Manila bishop Broderick Pabillo told AFP before addressing the crowd.

"I am alarmed and angry at what's happening because this is something that is regressive. It does not show our humanity."

Duterte, 71, has attacked the Church as "the most hypocritical institution" for speaking out against a campaign that he says would save generations of Filipinos from the drug menace.

About eight in 10 Filipinos are Catholic, making the former Spanish colony of more than 100 million people Asia's bastion of Christianity.

The Church helped lead the revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and a 2001 uprising against then-president Joseph Estrada that saw him ousted over corruption charges.

It had initially declined to voice opposition publicly to Duterte's drug war but, as the death toll of mostly poor people mounted, it began late last year to call for the killings to end.

Saturday's event, called the "Walk for Life", gathered 20,000 people, according to the organisers. Manila police estimated the crowd at 10,000.

The rally also opposed Duterte's push to restore the death penalty, his top legislative priority as part of his crime war.

"It is obvious that there is a spreading culture of violence. It is saddening to see, sometimes it drives me to tears how violent words seem so natural and ordinary," said Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle, the country's highest-ranking Church official.

"In your surroundings, in your neighbourhood, there are so many lives that must be saved. They will not be saved by mere discussion."

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines had called on the faithful to gather at the Quirino Grandstand, where Duterte held a huge pre-election rally, from 4:30am.

"Why dawn? It's because it is during these hours that we find bodies on the streets or near trash cans. Dawn, which is supposed to be the hour of a new start, is becoming an hour of tears and fears," Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the bishops' conference, told the crowd.

Villegas this month issued the Church's strongest statement against the drug war, warning against a "reign of terror" in poor communities.

Among those who attended Saturday's event was Senator Leila de Lima, a former human rights commissioner and one of Duterte's most vocal opponents.

The government on Friday filed charges against her for allegedly running a drug trafficking ring using criminals in the country's largest prison when she was justice secretary in the previous administration.

De Lima, who has repeatedly insisted the charges against her are trumped up to silence her and intimidate other Duterte critics, said she attended Saturday's event as a show of solidarity.

"For as long as I can, I will continue to fight. They cannot silence me," De Lima, who is expecting to be arrested in the coming days, told AFP.

Bone cancer survivor Lucy Castillo, 56, turned up in a wheelchair along with dozens of other people with disabilities.

"When I was in so much pain, I could have taken my life but I did not. Only God can take it," she told AFP.

"I was diagnosed 40 years ago but I was given a chance to live. I want to give these drug addicts another chance." </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 people allegedly using and dealing drugs, has announced that the country will withdraw from the establishing treaty of the International Criminal Court.

His statement comes about a month after the ICC launched a preliminary investigation into those deaths. Human Rights Watch has called Duterte's term a "human rights calamity," as his administration "has rejected all domestic and international calls for accountability for these abuses, and instead has denied any government responsibility for the thousands of drug war deaths."

Duterte, whose term began in June 2016, promised to kill every drug dealer and user in the Philippines in his presidential campaign. Police officials and vigilantes alike have contributed to the killings.

The ICC launches investigations when a member state is unwilling to carry out investigations and prosecute suspected perpetrators themselves. Duterte claims this is not the case: "The deaths [have occurred] in the process of legitimate police operation" who didn't intend to kill, but acted in self-defense," he said.

"Police have planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets on victims' bodies to implicate them in drug activities," it reads. "Masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with police, casting doubt on government claims that most killings have been committed by vigilantes or rival drug gangs. No one has been meaningfully investigated, let alone prosecuted, for any of the 'drug war' killings."

NPR reported on the scope of Duterte's war on drugs last November:

"Inside the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has maintained support for his bloody war on drugs, despite the thousands of lives lost and criticism by human rights groups. "Duterte has remained popular because most people in the country aren't directly affected by deadly drug war, which is mostly being waged in the inner cities. "Since taking office last year, Duterte continues to carry out his pledge to kill every drug dealer and user in the country. Human rights groups say the deadly extra-judicial war has left more than 13,000 people dead. "... Duterte has a much-maligned history of cracking down on drugs. When he won the presidential election last year, Duterte touted his 20 years as mayor of Davao in Mindanao in his promise to rid the country of drugs and crime. But as The Guardian reports, Davao still has the highest murder rate in the country and the second highest number of rapes. "The scope of Duterte's vicious war in the Philippines echoes that first violent campaign in Davao. When he ordered the first death squad to target drug dealers and users in 1989, he allegedly told police officers: "Throw them in the ocean or the quarry. Make it clean. Make sure there are no traces of the bodies."

The ICC uses preliminary investigations to determine if there's "a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation pursuant to the criteria established by the Rome Statute," said ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

In Oct. 2016, Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings."

"An international law cannot supplant, prevail or diminish a domestic law," reads Duterte's statement. "I therefore declare and forthwith give notice, as President of the Republic of the Philippines, that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately."

Withdrawing from the Rome Statue doesn't let the Philippines off the hook to a more comprehensive ICC investigation or human rights abuse charges, however. "A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from the Rome Statute while it was a party to the Statute," reads the document's Article 127.

The same article also states that withdrawals from the Rome Statute shall take place one year or later after a state notifies the United Nations of its intent to withdraw.

"There appears to be fraud in entering such agreement," counters Duterte's statement. The president dared the ICC to jail him last month, saying, "If you haul me into a rigmarole of trial and trial, no need. Go ahead and proceed in your investigation. Find me guilty, of course. You can do that."

"Looks like they are really afraid. Why? They feel that this will proceed to an investigation," Jude Sabio, an ICC lawyer, told Reuters. The withdrawal "will have no binding legal effect," he said.

There are no strict timelines on ICC preliminary investigations, which have taken years to establish whether crimes have taken place. </s> PanARMENIAN.Net – Thousands of Catholic faithful gathered in the Philippine capital on Saturday, February 18 for a ‘show of force’ in the biggest rally yet to stop extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, AFP reports.

More than 6,000 people have died since Duterte took office seven months ago and ordered an unprecedented crime war that has drawn global criticism for alleged human rights abuses, but is popular with many in the mainly Catholic country.

Members of one of the nation’s oldest and most powerful institutions chanted prayers and sang hymns as they marched to condemn a “spreading culture of violence”. </s> Manila: The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte became president two months ago on a pledge to wipe out the illegal drug trade, has reached around 2000, according to data released on Tuesday.

There has been popular support for his campaign, but the wave of killings unleashed since his election victory has alarmed rights groups and brought expressions of concern from the US, a close ally of Manila.

As officials readied a publicity campaign to explain his fight against narcotics, the Philippines national police said that close to 900 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations from July 1 to August 20. That was an increase of 141 people over a week, on average 20 people a day.

Last week the police said 1100 other drug-related killings that were not classified as police operations were also being investigated. No new number for that category was given on Tuesday but, together with the new figure for police encounters, the total came to around 2000.

Duterte won the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation in a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs.

Two UN human rights experts recently urged the Philippines to stop extra-judicial killings, drawing a furious response from Duterte, who threatened to pull his country out of the UN. His foreign minister later rowed back on the threat.

Duterte’s communications secretary, Martin Andanar, said on Monday that a 30-second advertisement explaining the anti-drug campaign would be aired over the next week by commercial and public TV stations and in movie theatres.

“The government is not spending a single centavo on these ads and TV stations are carrying them for free,” Andanar told reporters at an event in a Manila hotel.

This is a war

He said his office would also publish a 40-page pamphlet to explain the rising body count. This would be issued on the president’s first trip abroad next week, first to Brunei and then to an East Asia summit in Laos.

“Some people abroad have to understand why many people are getting killed in the anti-drug campaign. They must understand, this is a war and there are casualties,” Andanar said.

“The pamphlet will inform and explain that the government was not killing people at random, that these killings are not extrajudicial in nature but as part of the anti-crime campaign. Some of those killed were police officers who are involved in criminal activities.”

The White House said on Monday that US President Barack Obama is expected to meet Duterte in Laos on September 6 and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns.

Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the US, present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

There have been few signs in the Philippines itself of a backlash against the war on drugs.

However, on Tuesday a newly formed group called the ‘Stop the Killings Network’ announced a #Lightforlife campaign that would start with simultaneous candle-lighting events on Wednesday evening at six venues across Manila.

(Reuters)
The death toll in Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs reaches 1,900 people killed.