Thread: Philippine drug war sees 'bloodiest night' of deaths

Philippine police have killed 32 people in drug raids, thought to be the highest death toll in a single day in the country's war on drugs.

The raids took place over 24 hours on Tuesday in Bulacan province, north of the capital Manila.

Police said that those killed were suspected drug offenders who were armed and resisted officers.

Thousands have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his controversial war on drugs in 2016.

The campaign, aimed at wiping out the drug trade, has attracted intense international criticism over the number of deaths. Mr Duterte has in the past sanctioned extrajudicial killings.

Tuesday's operation, which lasted from midnight to midnight, comprised dozens of raids carried out across Bulacan according to local reports. More than 100 people were arrested and officers seized illegal drugs and arms in the raids.

Despite falling away from the international headlines, the record number of killings is a reminder that President Duterte's war on drugs is far from over.

In a strongly worded public address last month he warned drug users that he would hound them to the "gates of hell."

I recently met a woman who told me her son was shot and killed by masked vigilantes during a late evening "buy-and-bust" raid. She insisted her son wasn't a dealer, and had his marijuana use declared to the authorities three months before the killing.

Despite stories of extra-judicial killings like this, many in the Philippines support the war on drugs.

Taxi drivers have told me that roadside bag snatching has subsided. Manila residents I've spoken to say the streets feel safer.

Rights groups have accused Philippine police of planning extrajudicial killings and in some cases profiting from them.

Police have maintained that the suspects are killed when they offer armed resistance to police, a claim that has been highly disputed.

Mr Duterte suspended the campaign in January promising to "clean up" the police, and re-organise the anti-drug units. The campaign resumed in March.

Philippine drug war sees 'bloodiest night' of deaths - BBC News

So when they run out of drug dealers due to extinction , what's next, the return of a Poll Pot style of government with locals running around in black pyjamas.

Drug dealers are not a species, numnuts.

All it means is prices are soaring for now.

Philippines Escalates Drug War; 80 Dead in 3 Nights

MANILA, PHILIPPINES —
Police killed at least 13 people in Manila on the third night of an escalation in President Rodrigo Duterte’s ruthless war on drugs and crime, taking the toll for one of the bloodiest weeks so far to 80, Reuters witnesses and media reported Friday.

Earlier this week, 67 people were gunned down and more than 200 arrested in Manila and provinces adjoining the Philippines capital, in what police described as a “One-Time, Big-Time” push to curb drugs and street crimes.

The term has been used by Philippines police to describe a coordinated anti-crime drive in crime-prone districts, usually slums or low-income neighborhoods, often with additional police deployed.

The spike in killings drew condemnation from Vice President Leni Robredo, who belongs to a party opposed to Duterte.

Branding it “something to be outraged about,” she has been a constant critic of the crackdown that has killed thousands of Filipinos and caused international alarm since Duterte took office more than a year ago.

A team of Reuters journalists went to five communities in Manila Thursday night, where four men died in shootouts with undercover police in drug “buy-bust” or sting operations.

Police prevented the journalists from getting near the scene in the northwestern neighborhood of Caloocan, but they saw three body bags being taken from a maze of narrow alleys. Elsewhere in Caloocan, they saw the corpse of a man slumped on an iron fence at the back of a mini-bus terminal.

Another man was killed near the Manila post office building, four died in hospitals in the northern area of Malabon and another died on the spot near a former garbage dump in the sprawling Quezon City district.

Three others were killed elsewhere Thursday night, according to a radio report, including a man who was shot by masked men on a motorcycle in the eastern area of Marikina City.

Call for protest

“The killing spree must stop even as we also demand a stop to the proliferation of illegal drugs,” Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the left-wing Bayan (Nation) movement, said. “A long-term and thorough solution is necessary. A fascist solution is doomed to fail.”

Reyes urged Filipinos to join a protest organized by a group of artists in Quezon City, saying in a flyer on social media: “Let us condemn the recent spike in the killings under the Duterte regime.”

Police say there has been no instruction from higher authorities to step up their anti-drug operations and they are only doing their job.

“The president did not instruct me to kill and kill,” national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said Thursday. “I also don’t have any instructions to my men to kill and kill. But the instruction coming from the president is very clear that our war on drugs is unrelenting. Those who were killed fought back.”

Duterte indicated this week that the escalation had his blessing, saying it was good that 32 criminals had been killed in a province north of Manila and adding: “Let’s kill another 32every day. Maybe we can reduce what ails this country.”

On Thursday, he said he would not just pardon police officers who killed drug offenders during the anti-narcotics campaign, but also promote them.

Critics maintain that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are executing suspects and say it is likely they have a hand in thousands of unsolved murders of drug users by mysterious vigilantes. The PNP and government reject that.

Although the violence has been criticized by much of the international community, Filipinos largely support the campaign and domestic opposition to it has been muted.

https://www.voanews.com/a/philippine...s/3990820.html

Philippine Churches to Ring Bells to Protest Drug Killings

MANILA, PHILIPPINES —
A Philippine Catholic leader said Sunday that church bells would be rung every night for three months across his northern district to raise alarm over a sharp spike in police killings of drug suspects, adding to a growing outcry over President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas said church bells would toll for 15 minutes nightly across his religious district from Tuesday to Nov. 27 to rouse a citizenry "which has become a coward in expressing anger against evil." The start and end of the protest mark days of Catholic veneration.

The move comes after more than 80 drug and crime suspects were gunned down by police in metropolitan Manila and nearby Bulacan province in just three days last week, the bloodiest few days since Duterte's crackdown started in July last year.

"The sounding of the bells is a call to stop approval of the killings," Villegas, who also heads an influential bloc of Filipino Catholic bishops, said in a statement read Sunday in churches in his district in Pangasinan province. "The country is in chaos. The officer who kills is rewarded and the slain get the blame. The corpses could no longer defend themselves from accusations that they `fought back."'

"Why are we no longer horrified by the sound of the gun and blood flowing on the sidewalks? Why is nobody raging against drugs that were brought in from China?" Villegas asked, referring to a huge drugs shipment that managed to pass through Manila's ports under the watch of Customs officials appointed by Duterte.

Without naming the president, Villegas criticized Duterte's praises for police killings of 32 drug suspects in just a night of raids across Bulacan province last week and how his supporters applauded in response.

In a separate statement read in Manila churches, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle offered to host a dialogue on the drug problem among government and police officials, along with families of victims, non-government groups and medical experts.

Anger and protests have focused on last week's shooting death of a teenager, Kian Lloyd Delos Santos, who police say was a drug dealer who opened fire with a pistol during a raid, prompting law enforcers to shoot him. The family of the slain 17-year-old student, however, says he was mercilessly shot by police as he was pleading for his life.

Police said the student attempted to escape during a raid that sparked a chase Wednesday night in suburban Caloocan city in Manila metropolis. The student's grieving parents and some neighbors denied the police claim, pointing to security camera footage that showed a man, who they said was Delos Santos, being held by both arms and dragged away from his home shortly before he was shot nearby.

Vice President Leni Robredo condemned the killing and visited the wake of the slain student early Sunday accompanied by a volunteer lawyer, who she said may be able to help the victim's family attain justice. She acknowledged that the country has a big drug problem, but said the solution should not trample on human rights and victimize the innocent.

Amid the outcry, police officials removed three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos, along with their commander, and ordered an investigation.

Senators allied with Duterte were to hold a meeting Sunday to discuss a possible investigation of the killings of delos Santos and dozens of other people last week. Two of them spoke in radio interviews, warning policemen not to abuse Duterte's strong backing of law enforcers involved in his campaign against illegal drugs.

"Legitimate police operations are OK, but summary executions have no place in our society because they're barbaric acts," Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito told DZBB Radio. "They should not go overboard."

More than 3,200 drug suspects have been gunned down by police since Duterte launched his crackdown. More than 2,000 others have died in drug-related killings, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen, who human rights groups allege are policemen in disguise or their civilian hit men.

Alarmed human rights groups have reported higher death tolls.

Duterte has acknowledged he erred in his initial estimate - and campaign promise - to end the drug menace in three to six months and added that it would be difficult to have the problem under control during his six-year term. The crackdown, however, will not stop under his watch, he said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/philippine...s/3993039.html

AUGUST 21 2017 - 4:05PM
This 17 year old boy killed in Duterte's drug war galvanises the Philippines


Bangkok: Philippine police claimed it was an encounter with a drug suspect in a dark alley.

But CCTV footage shows that 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos was dragged past a basketball court into a dead-end screaming, "Please can I go home. I have school tomorrow".

Witnesses say delos Santos was handed a gun and ordered to run.

His dead body was found in a fetal position, wearing a blue shirt and boxer shorts, a gun in his left hand.

The execution was one of 81 deaths in the bloodiest five days yet of president Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs.

Children as young as three have become what Mr Duterte describes as "collateral damage" in the crackdown where hooded hit-men and police have killed thousands of Filipinos, most of them in crime-prone urban slums.

But the killing of delos Santos has resonated across the Philippines in a way that none other has done since the bloodshed began when Mr Duterte took office in June last year.

Church leaders have led the outcry, decreeing that church bells will be rung for 15 minutes every night for three months to raise alarm over the escalating killings.

And Mr Duterte's powerful allies in the Philippine senate have broken ranks and signed a resolution condemning "the recent spate of abuses by police resulting in excessive and unnecessary deaths in the conduct of the campaign against drugs".

The senate majority bloc also agreed to set up a new inquiry into the killings, including that of delos Santos in Caloocan City in Manila metropolis last Wednesday night.

Philippine vice president Leni Robredo explained the backlash against Mr Duterte, saying "you know, this is something personal to me because he (delos Santos) was the same age as my youngest daughter. That's why when these things happen, you will think that if it happened to him, it could also happen to our children".

"This is saddening. Now Kian gives it a human face. How many Kians have we had? How many more Kians will follow? That's why when this happens, I think it is our obligation to express our condemnation," she said.

Unlike other teenagers in his neighbourhood, delos Santos never ran around playing on the streets and his family and friends are shocked at insinuations by police that he could have been involved in drugs, family members and friends told the Philippine media.

Every day he would man his family's small convenience store from 5.30am until noon before going off to high school, where teachers and friends said he never once got into trouble, Rappler online news reported.

Saldy delos Santos told reporters that if his son had any spare time he would watch funny videos on YouTube and sing rap songs.

He shared a bed with his three siblings.

A few hours before the killing, Kian's father, Saldy sent his son a message telling him to sleep early and be careful around the streets.

"You know how it is in our street, it can be dangerous," the father said in his final advice to his son, Rappler on-line news reported.

True to form, Mr Duterte's response to the killing spree was to express his wish more people would be killed and to lash out at human rights defenders, telling police to shoot them as well if they get in the way.

Police initially said they would conduct an investigation into delos Santos' supposed drug dealings.

But as anger grew when it became clear he was executed three police were stood down, pending a wider probe.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who heads an influential bloc of Catholic bishops, said the sound of the bells in his northern Archdiocese "is the voice of God that we hope will wake-up numb and blind consciences. You shall not kill! That is a sin. That is against the law. That is what the bell is saying."

"The country is a chaos. The officer who kills is rewarded and the slain get the blame…the corpses could no longer defend themselves from accusations that they fought back," he said.

Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle called for an end to the "waste of human lives."

"We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets and to stop wasting human lives," he said.

The comments are the strongest yet from the church which has been one of the few voices denouncing the deaths in the pre-dominantly Catholic country while Mr Duterte has enjoyed widespread popularity.

Now senators have also turned. For 14 months, the majority has strongly supported the president, but now they have made a joint public stand that will embarrass him. Among those backing the statement is Senate president Aquilino Pimentel, who said, "Of course it's getting alarming, not just because a young man was killed, but because there are people getting killed".

The inquiry will be conducted by the senate's committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief.

But it is unlikely to deter Mr Duterte, a 72-year-old boastful and foul-mouthed former provincial mayor, from a bloody crusade that human rights groups say could amount to a crime against humanity.

When he took office last year he pledged to eradicate all drugs in society in six months.

But in recent speeches he has said he is unlikely to achieve the goal by the time he has to stand down as president in 2022.

Former congressman Walden Bello estimates that by then the death toll could reach 60,000, if the current rate of killing continues.

The toll is already the largest number of civilian deaths in south-east Asia since the Khmer Rouge genocide and Vietnam war in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, human rights groups have expressed outrage at Mr Duterte's instruction last week to police to "shoot those who are part of (drug activity). If they (members of human rights organisations) are obstructing justice, you shoot them."

Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the president's comments are "like painting a target on the backs of courageous people working to protect the rights and upholding the dignity of all Filipinos."

"Duterte should retract his reprehensible remarks immediately before there is more blood on his hands," he said.

This 17 year old boy killed in Duterte's drug war galvanises the Philippines

See it's not long before the Khmer Rouge syndrome starts taking effect. ^

Originally Posted by wasabi

See it's not long before the Khmer Rouge syndrome starts taking effect. ^

And what is "Khmer Rouge syndrome"?

Autopsy finds 17-year-old killed ‘intentionally’ in Duterte’s drug war
By Asian Correspondent Staff | 22nd August 2017 | @ascorrespondent

IN direct contradiction to police claims, 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos was shot in the ear and in the back as his killer stood over him, according to explosive conclusions drawn from an autopsy conducted on Sunday by the Philippine Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).

PAO medicolegal officer Erwin Erfe said on Monday all evidence pointed towards “intentional killing.”

“There’s no evidence that would back up [the policemen’s story] that he fought back. He was lying face down, his shooter was standing above him,” Erfe said, as reported by Inquirer.net.

The gun used was a 9mm service firearm issued to members of the Philippine National Police.

Delos Santos was gunned down during an anti-drug raid on Wednesday in Caloocan City, and is the 30th minor to be killed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

The policeman who killed the teenager maintains he shot at them when he saw them coming. According to Rappler, Police Officer Arnel Oares was “prompted to return fire” that killed the boy.

This account of events has been widely disputed, however, as CCTV footage aired on local media clearly shows two plainclothes police officers moving delos Santos before the incident.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, delos Santos was dragged past a basketball court into a dead-end screaming, “Please can I go home. I have school tomorrow”.

Several witnesses have claimed the police beat the boy in custody, and then gave him a gun and forced him to run before shooting him.

Delos Santos was found dead, face down on a garbage heap.

The boy’s death quickly galvanised much of the Philippines against the bloody campaign that has seen 12,500 people killed since Duterte took office last June.

The crackdown has remained largely popular throughout the country, but delos Santos’ death and a dramatic escalation in killings last week has raised questions among some of Duterte’s staunchest supporters.

A number of Duterte’s powerful allies in the senate have broken ranks and signed a resolution condemning “the recent spate of abuses by police resulting in excessive and unnecessary deaths in the conduct of the campaign against drugs”.

The Senate majority bloc also agreed to set up a new inquiry into the killings, including that of delos Santos.

The Catholic Church spoke out against the killings in a Sunday mass, calling on police and vigilante gangs to “stop wasting human lives.”

“We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives,” Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle said in a statement.

“The illegal drug problem should not be reduced to a political or criminal issue. It is a humanitarian concern that affects all of us.”

Duterte’s initial response to the spike in killings that saw 91 people gunned down in seven days was to encourage more bloodshed and offer to promote those police officers responsible.

“Let’s kill another 32 every day. Maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” he said on Wednesday, following the death of 32 people in Bulacan.

The firebrand leader has since changed his tack, capitulating on Monday there could have been abuses in his government’s war on drugs, ordering police to take into custody those accused of killing delos Santos.

He said there are some rogue elements in the police that were destroying the image of the government.

“These abusive police officers are destroying the credibility of the government,” he added. “Who will follow the government if the credibility is destroyed?”

https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/...ZVXomgoxoyw.97

And Du30's supporters, like Trumpanzees, are calling "fake news" on these stories.

A Drug War.

How convenient.

I've always said D30 is a dirty turd. And here he proves it again. He'll die soon, no worries.

But what will his mongrel supporters do?