<div style="text-align: justify;">Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret on Friday for calling US President Barack Obama a &quot;son of a whore&quot;. But then he went on to call UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a &quot;fool&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Duterte specified he had not meant to insult the American President when he called him a &ldquo;son of a whore&rdquo; --&nbsp;a&nbsp;view most certainly not shared by the Americans who decided to cancel a meeting between the two heads of state.&nbsp; 
 
Duterete said his statement did not refer&nbsp;directly to Obama&nbsp;but to the US state department, which has raised concerns of human rights violations over the at least 3,000 deaths that have occurred during Duterte&#39;s &quot;war on drugs&quot;. That war was begun only about two months ago, when Duterte took over as President.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;I got really angry about these threats over this human rights issue. This is the fault of the crazy people in the State Department,&quot; he said. 
 
Commenting on the espression &quot;putagina&quot;, Filipino&nbsp;slang for &quot;whore&quot;, Duterte said &ldquo;it is just an ordinary expression (used) by everyone&rdquo; and that it should not be taken literally.&nbsp; 
 
The two Presidents (Duterte and Obama)&nbsp;met briefly during the ASEAN summit in Laos, with&nbsp;AFP reporting Duterte as saying&nbsp;he had clarified the matter and that things were now settled.&nbsp; 
 
Duterte however will have to soothe&nbsp;other ruffled feathers too.&nbsp;The President of the Philippines has also called the pope and the&nbsp;US ambassador in Manila &quot;sons of whores&quot;. And on Friday he called UN chief Ban Ki-moon a &quot;fool&quot;;&nbsp;the United Nations has also&nbsp;spoken out against his crackdown, &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
There have been no apologies -- apart from the one to Obama --&nbsp;so far. &quot;I will continue the campaign against the criminals. I do not have any pity for them,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
He ended with the colourful:&nbsp;&quot;I don&#39;t give a shit. I am the president of the Philippines, not the republic of the international community.&quot; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)</div>

Says the insult was aimed at the US state department, not the President

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret on Friday for calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore". But then he went on to call UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a "fool". Duterte specified he had not meant to insult the American President when he called him a “son of a whore” -- a view most certainly not shared by the Americans who decided to cancel a meeting between the two heads of state. Duterete said his statement did not refer directly to Obama but to the US state department, which has raised concerns of human rights violations over the at least 3,000 deaths that have occurred during Duterte's "war on drugs". That war was begun only about two months ago, when Duterte took over as President. "I got really angry about these threats over this human rights issue. This is the fault of the crazy people in the State Department," he said. Commenting on the espression "putagina", Filipino slang for "whore", Duterte said “it is just an ordinary expression (used) by everyone” and that it should not be taken literally. The two Presidents (Duterte and Obama) met briefly during the ASEAN summit in Laos, with AFP reporting Duterte as saying he had clarified the matter and that things were now settled. Duterte however will have to soothe other ruffled feathers too. The President of the Philippines has also called the pope and the US ambassador in Manila "sons of whores". And on Friday he called UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool"; the United Nations has also spoken out against his crackdown, There have been no apologies -- apart from the one to Obama -- so far. "I will continue the campaign against the criminals. I do not have any pity for them," Duterte said. He ended with the colourful: "I don't give a shit. I am the president of the Philippines, not the republic of the international community." (WION with inputs from agencies)

Philippines President Duterte regrets calling Obama 'son of a w****', then calls UN chief 'fool'

Philippines&nbsp;government plans to conduct drug tests on all college freshers, according to an official for the Commission on Higher Education. 
 
&quot;This was born out of the president&#39;s call to make campuses drug-free, because we see the pervasive effects of drug use,&quot; Julito Vitriolo, the executive director of the Commission on Higher Education, said. 
 
Students who fail the test might have to go through rehabilitation before they resume their studies, Al Jazeera quoted a Filipino government official. 
 
The move reinforces&nbsp;President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s crusade against illegal drugs in the island country. 
 
The drug issue was a centrepiece of Duterte&#39;s election campaign last May.&nbsp; 
 
The country has been wracked by the drug menace.&nbsp; 
 
Police have recorded 2,400 deaths related to drug&nbsp;consumption since Duterte assumed office on June 30. 
 
Drug tests on college campuses are not unprecedented in the country. Some universities already have such a system in place. 
 
(WION)

Students who fail the test might have to go through rehabilitation before they resume their studies, according to a Filipino official

Philippines government plans to conduct drug tests on all college freshers, according to an official for the Commission on Higher Education. "This was born out of the president's call to make campuses drug-free, because we see the pervasive effects of drug use," Julito Vitriolo, the executive director of the Commission on Higher Education, said. Students who fail the test might have to go through rehabilitation before they resume their studies, Al Jazeera quoted a Filipino government official. The move reinforces President Rodrigo Duterte's crusade against illegal drugs in the island country. The drug issue was a centrepiece of Duterte's election campaign last May. The country has been wracked by the drug menace. Police have recorded 2,400 deaths related to drug consumption since Duterte assumed office on June 30. Drug tests on college campuses are not unprecedented in the country. Some universities already have such a system in place. (WION)

Philippines plans to conduct drug tests on college freshers

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he expects talks with China over South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China&#39;s claims there when he attends a regional summit next month. 
 
An international &nbsp;arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical claim over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines&#39; sovereign rights with various actions there. 
 
Taking up the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its &quot;dialogue partners&quot; including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China&#39;&#39;s anger. 
 
Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, Duterte said it was &quot;better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there&quot;. 
 
Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: &quot;Within the year.&quot; 
 
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China&#39;s pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully. 
 
At the same time, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington &quot;urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force.&quot; 
 
Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue. 
 
Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte&#39;s comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which US President Barack Obama is due to attend.&nbsp; 
 
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea. 
 
Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: &quot;If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, &quot;where do we go?&quot; he asked. 
 
Former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, travelled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing. 
While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation. 
 
Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground. 
 
In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. 
 
China has ignored the court&#39;s ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan. 
 
China says its aims are peaceful and it has the right to do what it wants on its territory. 
 
(Reuters) 
 
&nbsp;

Duterte will not raise the issue at a 10-member summit in Laos, says better to hold diplomatic talks with China than 'anger officials there'

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he expects talks with China over South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China's claims there when he attends a regional summit next month. An international arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical claim over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there. Taking up the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its "dialogue partners" including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China''s anger. Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, Duterte said it was "better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there". Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: "Within the year." The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China's pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully. At the same time, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington "urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force." Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue. Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte's comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which US President Barack Obama is due to attend. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea. Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: "If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks." If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, "where do we go?" he asked. Former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, travelled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing. While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation. Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground. In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan. China says its aims are peaceful and it has the right to do what it wants on its territory. (Reuters)

South China Sea dispute: Duterte to hold talks with China 'within the year'

The Philippines has recorded about 1,800 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures. 
 
Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1.&nbsp; 
 
Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details. On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticising the wave of deaths. 
 
The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said it was &quot;deeply concerned&quot; by the reports, and US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Duterte&#39;s government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms. 
 
The drug trafficking crackdown and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the United States since coming to power 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. 
 
Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as &quot;a plain-speaking politician.&quot; 
 
&quot;We continue to make clear to the Philippines government ... our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship,&quot; he said. 
 
Toner said there was no question of the United States turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with Manila, while good, was &quot;frank and candid&quot;. 
 
As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Duterte&#39;s war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election. 
 
Duterte said in a strongly worded late-night news conference on Sunday the Philippines might leave the United Nations and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing it of failing to fulfil its mandate. 
 
His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a UN member and described the president&#39;s comments as expressions of &quot;profound disappointment and frustration&quot;. 
 
&quot;We are committed to the UN despite our numerous frustrations and disappointments with the international agency,&quot; Yasay told a news conference. US officials declined comment on Duterte&#39;s UN remarks. 
 
Last week, two UN human rights experts urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings. 
 
Yasay said Duterte has promised to uphold human rights in the fight against drugs and has ordered the police to investigate and prosecute offenders. He criticised the UN rapporteurs for &quot;jumping to an arbitrary conclusion that we have violated human rights of people&quot;. 
 
&quot;It is highly irresponsible on their part to solely rely on such allegations based on information from unnamed sources without proper substantiation,&quot; he said of the United Nations. 
 
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the president, started a two-day congressional inquiry into the killings on Monday, questioning top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the &quot;unprecedented&quot; rise in killings. 
 
&quot;I am disturbed that we have killings left and right as breakfast every morning,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;My concern does not only revolve around the growing tally of killings reported by the police. What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some law enforcers and other elements like vigilantes to commit murder with impunity,&quot; De Lima said. 
 
(Reuters)

The numbers are much higher than previously believed and have prompted close ally US to express deep concern

The Philippines has recorded about 1,800 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures. Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1. Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details. On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticising the wave of deaths. The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said it was "deeply concerned" by the reports, and US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Duterte's government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms. The drug trafficking crackdown and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the United States since coming to power 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. Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as "a plain-speaking politician." "We continue to make clear to the Philippines government ... our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship," he said. Toner said there was no question of the United States turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with Manila, while good, was "frank and candid". As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Duterte's war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election. Duterte said in a strongly worded late-night news conference on Sunday the Philippines might leave the United Nations and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing it of failing to fulfil its mandate. His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a UN member and described the president's comments as expressions of "profound disappointment and frustration". "We are committed to the UN despite our numerous frustrations and disappointments with the international agency," Yasay told a news conference. US officials declined comment on Duterte's UN remarks. Last week, two UN human rights experts urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings. Yasay said Duterte has promised to uphold human rights in the fight against drugs and has ordered the police to investigate and prosecute offenders. He criticised the UN rapporteurs for "jumping to an arbitrary conclusion that we have violated human rights of people". "It is highly irresponsible on their part to solely rely on such allegations based on information from unnamed sources without proper substantiation," he said of the United Nations. Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the president, started a two-day congressional inquiry into the killings on Monday, questioning top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in killings. "I am disturbed that we have killings left and right as breakfast every morning," she said. "My concern does not only revolve around the growing tally of killings reported by the police. What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some law enforcers and other elements like vigilantes to commit murder with impunity," De Lima said. (Reuters)

Philippines' bloody war on drugs claims 1,800 lives in 7 weeks

Over 300 anti-narcotics and human rights groups from around the world on Tuesday called for the United Nations to condemn Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s war on drugs that has already killed hundreds of people. 
 
The appeal, directed to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), came as an influential Philippine senator called for an investigation into the killings of suspected drug pushers that Duterte has endorsed. 
 
Senator Leila de Lima and the foreign organisations cited reports of police killing hundreds of people since Duterte won May elections largely on a platform to wage a bloody war on drugs. 
 
&quot;Instead of ensuring the protection and rights of people who use drugs... President Duterte has called for them to be killed,&quot; said the statement from groups such as the Australian Drug Foundation and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. 
 
&quot;Instead of ensuring the rights of people suspected of committing drug-related crimes... the President has called for them to be executed on the spot.&quot; 
 
The statement called on the INCB and the UNODC to condemn the killings and &quot;demand an end to the atrocities&quot;. 
 
De Lima, in a speech before Senate, also lashed out at the killings. &quot;We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction.&nbsp;This is the compulsion for more killing,&quot; said the senator, a former justice minister who also headed the nation&#39;s human rights body. De Lima said police were summarily killing even innocent people, using the anti-drug campaign as an excuse. 
 
Since assuming the presidency on June 30, Duterte has promised to protect police and soldiers from sanctions for killing criminals and even urged ordinary citizens and communist rebels to join in the bloodshed. 
 
While his campaign has been widely popular in the impoverished Philippines, more groups have begun criticising Duterte, with De Lima calling for a congressional probe into the killings. 
 
But the president has dismissed human rights concerns while police have insisted that they only acted in self-defence. In June, even UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned Duterte&#39;s apparent support of extra-judicial killings. 
 
Police figures showed that as of Tuesday, 402 drug suspects had been killed a month into Duterte&#39;s presidency. 
 
The figure does not include those slain by suspected vigilantes. The country&#39;s top broadcaster, ABS-CBN, reported that 603 people had been killed since Duterte was elected, with 211 murdered by unidentified gunmen. 
 
(AFP)

While his campaign has been popular in the impoverished Philippines, more international groups have begun criticising President Duterte

Over 300 anti-narcotics and human rights groups from around the world on Tuesday called for the United Nations to condemn Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that has already killed hundreds of people. The appeal, directed to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), came as an influential Philippine senator called for an investigation into the killings of suspected drug pushers that Duterte has endorsed. Senator Leila de Lima and the foreign organisations cited reports of police killing hundreds of people since Duterte won May elections largely on a platform to wage a bloody war on drugs. "Instead of ensuring the protection and rights of people who use drugs... President Duterte has called for them to be killed," said the statement from groups such as the Australian Drug Foundation and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. "Instead of ensuring the rights of people suspected of committing drug-related crimes... the President has called for them to be executed on the spot." The statement called on the INCB and the UNODC to condemn the killings and "demand an end to the atrocities". De Lima, in a speech before Senate, also lashed out at the killings. "We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction. This is the compulsion for more killing," said the senator, a former justice minister who also headed the nation's human rights body. De Lima said police were summarily killing even innocent people, using the anti-drug campaign as an excuse. Since assuming the presidency on June 30, Duterte has promised to protect police and soldiers from sanctions for killing criminals and even urged ordinary citizens and communist rebels to join in the bloodshed. While his campaign has been widely popular in the impoverished Philippines, more groups have begun criticising Duterte, with De Lima calling for a congressional probe into the killings. But the president has dismissed human rights concerns while police have insisted that they only acted in self-defence. In June, even UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned Duterte's apparent support of extra-judicial killings. Police figures showed that as of Tuesday, 402 drug suspects had been killed a month into Duterte's presidency. The figure does not include those slain by suspected vigilantes. The country's top broadcaster, ABS-CBN, reported that 603 people had been killed since Duterte was elected, with 211 murdered by unidentified gunmen. (AFP)

UN must condemn Philippine drug killings: Rights groups

The Philippine government may still re-impose a ceasefire with Maoist-led guerrillas, a senior administration official said today, a day after it was withdrawn by President Rodrigo Duterte. 
 
Duterte lifted the unilateral truce with the communist New People&#39;s Army on Saturday evening, six days after it was declared as a goodwill gesture ahead of formal peace negotiations in Oslo next month.&nbsp;The move came after rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government&#39;s truce. 
 
&quot;We may work out a negotiated truce with the Communists,&quot; Jesus Dureza, presidential peace adviser, said. &quot;It was in our agenda when the formal peace talks resume in Oslo. The peace talks will go on as scheduled.&quot; 
 
The peace talks, brokered by Norway, will resume on August 20, four years after bogging down due to rebels&#39; demand for the release of 500 political prisoners. The government has now promised to free them for health and humanitarian reasons. 
 
Dureza said he welcomed a statement from rebel leader Jose Maria Siso, who was interviewed on local television hours after Duterte withdrew the ceasefire, saying the communists had also intended to impose a truce but it was overtaken by events. 
 
&quot;This is what we have been waiting for,&quot; Dureza said in an official statement. &quot;The leadership of the CPP/NPA/NDF announced through the media its belated but still strategic and awaited decision to also declare its own unilateral ceasefire.&quot; 
 
Duterte also was angered by reports that Maoist-led rebels had killed a militiaman, and wounded four others, in an ambush on Wednesday when they were returning to an army base in Davao del Norte to comply with the government&#39;s unilateral truce. 
 
Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bayan (Nation), a left-wing political group, criticised the government for imposing &quot;unrealistic&quot; ultimatums, saying the &quot;peace talks are more complicated than some folks think&quot;. 
 
&quot;The road to peace is a difficult one, where deadlines and ultimatums cannot just be imposed and where discussions of the substantial agenda are the only sure means to achieve a lasting end to hostilities,&quot; he said. 
 
Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said army units have resumed offensive action against the rebels. 
 
&quot;The rebels have missed a golden opportunity to manifest their commitment to the attainment of much sought peace throughout the land,&quot; he added. 
 
(Reuters)

President Rodrigo Duterte lifted the truce after reports that rebels violated it by killing a militiaman and wounding four others

The Philippine government may still re-impose a ceasefire with Maoist-led guerrillas, a senior administration official said today, a day after it was withdrawn by President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte lifted the unilateral truce with the communist New People's Army on Saturday evening, six days after it was declared as a goodwill gesture ahead of formal peace negotiations in Oslo next month. The move came after rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government's truce. "We may work out a negotiated truce with the Communists," Jesus Dureza, presidential peace adviser, said. "It was in our agenda when the formal peace talks resume in Oslo. The peace talks will go on as scheduled." The peace talks, brokered by Norway, will resume on August 20, four years after bogging down due to rebels' demand for the release of 500 political prisoners. The government has now promised to free them for health and humanitarian reasons. Dureza said he welcomed a statement from rebel leader Jose Maria Siso, who was interviewed on local television hours after Duterte withdrew the ceasefire, saying the communists had also intended to impose a truce but it was overtaken by events. "This is what we have been waiting for," Dureza said in an official statement. "The leadership of the CPP/NPA/NDF announced through the media its belated but still strategic and awaited decision to also declare its own unilateral ceasefire." Duterte also was angered by reports that Maoist-led rebels had killed a militiaman, and wounded four others, in an ambush on Wednesday when they were returning to an army base in Davao del Norte to comply with the government's unilateral truce. Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bayan (Nation), a left-wing political group, criticised the government for imposing "unrealistic" ultimatums, saying the "peace talks are more complicated than some folks think". "The road to peace is a difficult one, where deadlines and ultimatums cannot just be imposed and where discussions of the substantial agenda are the only sure means to achieve a lasting end to hostilities," he said. Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said army units have resumed offensive action against the rebels. "The rebels have missed a golden opportunity to manifest their commitment to the attainment of much sought peace throughout the land," he added. (Reuters)

Philippines may still re-impose withdrawn ceasefire with Maoist-led rebels

Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines&#39; most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime.&nbsp; 
 
Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society.&nbsp; 
 
Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan&nbsp;(name changed)&nbsp;has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It&#39;s so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone,&quot; Dimaculangan said in one of the jail&#39;s packed hallways that reeked of sweat.&nbsp; 
 
There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high.&nbsp; 
 
The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat.&nbsp; 
 
Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal.&nbsp; 
 
Unthinkable conditions&nbsp; 
 
The jail&#39;s management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes.&nbsp; 
 
But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. &quot;If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation,&quot; Narag said.&nbsp; 
 
The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London&#39;s Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly.&nbsp; 
 
Under Duterte&#39;s crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state.&nbsp; 
 
The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections.&nbsp; 
 
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases.&nbsp; 
 
But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. &quot;If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis,&quot; said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience.&nbsp; 
 
Justice delayed&nbsp; 
 
Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician&#39;s relative in 2001.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan insists he has a &quot;clear conscience&quot; but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. &quot;Now when they say I have a hearing, I don&#39;t care anymore,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. &quot;My purpose is to help my fellow detainees,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

After President Duterte's crackdown on drugs, security forces have detained thousands in just one month

Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines' most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime. Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society. Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan (name changed) has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on. "Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It's so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone," Dimaculangan said in one of the jail's packed hallways that reeked of sweat. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high. The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat. Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal. Unthinkable conditions The jail's management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes. But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. "If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation," Narag said. The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly. Under Duterte's crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state. The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases. But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. "If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis," said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience. Justice delayed Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician's relative in 2001. Dimaculangan insists he has a "clear conscience" but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms. Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. "Now when they say I have a hearing, I don't care anymore," he said. With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. "My purpose is to help my fellow detainees," he said. "God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?" (AFP)

1 toilet for 130 inmates: A harrowing tale of Philippine's overcrowded jails

Philippine President Rodrigo&nbsp;Duterte&nbsp;announced on Monday a unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels who are waging one of Asia&#39;s longest insurgencies and urged them to reciprocate. 
 
Duterte&nbsp;made the announcement in his first &quot;State of the Nation Address&quot; to the Congress as he laid the groundwork for peace talks with the communists that are due to begin in Norway next month. 
 
&quot;To stop violence on the ground and restore peace, I am now announcing a unilateral ceasefire,&quot; Duterte told lawmakers, as he called on the rebels to do the same. 
 
The rebellion has killed about 30,000 since the 1960s. 
 
According to the military, the communists&#39; armed wing, the New People&#39;s Army, is believed to have some 4,000 gunmen today, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s. 
 
It retains support among the deeply poor in rural areas, and its troops regularly kill security forces and extort money from local businesses. 
 
Duterte&#39;s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, revived negotiations soon after taking office in 2010, but shelved them in 2013, accusing the rebels of being insincere about finding a political settlement. 
 
The talks collapsed after his government rejected the rebels&#39; demand to release scores of their jailed comrades whom they described as &quot;political prisoners&quot;. 
 
Duterte, who took office on June 30 and publicly acknowledges exiled communist rebel leader, Jose Maria Sison, as a friend, had offered to release some political prisoners. 
 
His aides have already held preliminary talks with Sison and other senior communist leaders during which they agreed to resume the peace negotiations next month. 
 
(AFP)

Peace talks with the rebels, who are waging Asia's longest insurgency, are due to begin in Norway the next month

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday a unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels who are waging one of Asia's longest insurgencies and urged them to reciprocate. Duterte made the announcement in his first "State of the Nation Address" to the Congress as he laid the groundwork for peace talks with the communists that are due to begin in Norway next month. "To stop violence on the ground and restore peace, I am now announcing a unilateral ceasefire," Duterte told lawmakers, as he called on the rebels to do the same. The rebellion has killed about 30,000 since the 1960s. According to the military, the communists' armed wing, the New People's Army, is believed to have some 4,000 gunmen today, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s. It retains support among the deeply poor in rural areas, and its troops regularly kill security forces and extort money from local businesses. Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, revived negotiations soon after taking office in 2010, but shelved them in 2013, accusing the rebels of being insincere about finding a political settlement. The talks collapsed after his government rejected the rebels' demand to release scores of their jailed comrades whom they described as "political prisoners". Duterte, who took office on June 30 and publicly acknowledges exiled communist rebel leader, Jose Maria Sison, as a friend, had offered to release some political prisoners. His aides have already held preliminary talks with Sison and other senior communist leaders during which they agreed to resume the peace negotiations next month. (AFP)

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announces ceasefire with communist guerrilla, urges rebels to do same

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s controversial war on crime. 
 
Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. 
 
More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte&#39;s election. 
 
One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight &quot;drug personalities&quot; dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. 
 
One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. 
 
In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. 
 
His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: &quot;I Am A Pusher&quot;. 
 
Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months&#39; police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. 
 
Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. 
 
The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer&#39;s own &quot;kill list&quot; of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. 
 
(AFP)

More than 100 people have been killed in the seven weeks since Rodrigo Duterte was elected President

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial war on crime. Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte's election. One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight "drug personalities" dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: "I Am A Pusher". Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months' police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer's own "kill list" of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. (AFP)

Nine more killed in controversial Philippines drug war

duterte

Duterte, News on Duterte, stories on Duterte, articles on Duterte, Duterte stories at Wion, Duterte news, Duterte latest news