Asserting that he was not severing ties with long-time ally the United States, &nbsp;Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte &nbsp;on Friday said that he was merely pursuing a more independent foreign policy by strengthening relations with China.

&quot;It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that,&quot; the Philippine leader told reporters at a midnight news conference in his southern home city of Davao, AFP reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Duterte&#39;s remark came a day after he provoked fresh diplomatic alarm by announcing his &quot;separation&quot; from Washington. &nbsp;As &nbsp;he arrived back in the Philippines after a four-day visit to Beijing , the President struck a more conciliatory tone.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;It&#39;s in the best interest of my countrymen to maintain that relationship.&quot;

&nbsp;

During his four-day visit to Beijing, the firebrand leader on Thursday told a group of Chinese businessmen: &quot;I announce my separation from the United States.&quot;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

He said that he intended to end the Philippines&#39; 70-year alliance with US as he sought what he calls a new commercial alliance with China. &nbsp;He also said that he would seek closer ties with Russia.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Clarifying his comments on Friday, he said that what he meant was that Manila&#39;s foreign policy need not always &quot;dovetail&quot; with Washington.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;As in separation, what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy,&quot; he was quoted as saying by Reuters.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;In the past, and until I became president, we always follow what the United States would give the cue.&quot;

&nbsp;

The White House, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone after responding to the &quot;separation&quot; speech by saying there had been &quot;too many&quot; troubling statements from Duterte recently, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone.

&nbsp;

&quot;Based on his extensive, colourful previous comments, there is greater clarity that we would like to get about the intent of President Duterte and his government,&quot; White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing.

&nbsp;

&quot;But based on what you&#39;ve read me that seems to be a change in tone that is more consistent with the seven-decade-long alliance between the United States and the Philippines.&quot;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)&nbsp;

It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that: Duterte

Asserting that he was not severing ties with long-time ally the United States, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that he was merely pursuing a more independent foreign policy by strengthening relations with China. "It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that," the Philippine leader told reporters at a midnight news conference in his southern home city of Davao, AFP reported. Duterte's remark came a day after he provoked fresh diplomatic alarm by announcing his "separation" from Washington. As he arrived back in the Philippines after a four-day visit to Beijing , the President struck a more conciliatory tone. "It's in the best interest of my countrymen to maintain that relationship." During his four-day visit to Beijing, the firebrand leader on Thursday told a group of Chinese businessmen: "I announce my separation from the United States." He said that he intended to end the Philippines' 70-year alliance with US as he sought what he calls a new commercial alliance with China. He also said that he would seek closer ties with Russia. Clarifying his comments on Friday, he said that what he meant was that Manila's foreign policy need not always "dovetail" with Washington. "As in separation, what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. "In the past, and until I became president, we always follow what the United States would give the cue." The White House, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone after responding to the "separation" speech by saying there had been "too many" troubling statements from Duterte recently, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone. "Based on his extensive, colourful previous comments, there is greater clarity that we would like to get about the intent of President Duterte and his government," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing. "But based on what you've read me that seems to be a change in tone that is more consistent with the seven-decade-long alliance between the United States and the Philippines." (WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)

After announcing 'separation' from US, Duterte says will not sever ties

The Philippines will maintain its trade and economic ties with the United States, trade minister Ramon Lopez said on Friday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced its &quot;separation&quot; from Washington.

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate.

&quot;In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States,&quot; Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people to applause at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli.

&quot;Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost.&quot;

Duterte&#39;s efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30.

Lopez on Friday sought to explain Duterte&#39;s comments.

&quot;Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation,&quot; Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing.

&quot;In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries.&quot;

He said the Philippines was &quot;breaking being too much dependent on one side&quot;.

&quot;But we definitely won&#39;t stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US.&quot;

Maria Banaag, assistant secretary at the Philippine presidential communications office, urged the public to wait for guidelines before interpreting Duterte&#39;s announcement.

&quot;There is no rush for us to interpret the speech of the President as we have to wait for guidelines that would be coming from him, from the department of foreign affairs, as soon as they come back,&quot; she said.

Duterte said in Beijing that he had &quot;realigned (himself) in your ideological flow&quot;.

&quot;Maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#39;s the only way.&quot;

Duterte&#39;s remarks will prompt fresh concern in the United States, where the Obama administration has seen Manila as an important ally in its &quot;rebalance&quot; of resources to Asia in the face of a rising China.

(Reuters)

&nbsp;

Ramon Lopez said trade is not being stopped with America, but Duterte wishes to strengthen ties with China and the ASEAN countries

The Philippines will maintain its trade and economic ties with the United States, trade minister Ramon Lopez said on Friday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced its "separation" from Washington. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. "In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people to applause at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli. "Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost." Duterte's efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30. Lopez on Friday sought to explain Duterte's comments. "Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation," Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing. "In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries." He said the Philippines was "breaking being too much dependent on one side". "But we definitely won't stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US." Maria Banaag, assistant secretary at the Philippine presidential communications office, urged the public to wait for guidelines before interpreting Duterte's announcement. "There is no rush for us to interpret the speech of the President as we have to wait for guidelines that would be coming from him, from the department of foreign affairs, as soon as they come back," she said. Duterte said in Beijing that he had "realigned (himself) in your ideological flow". "Maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia," he said. "It's the only way." Duterte's remarks will prompt fresh concern in the United States, where the Obama administration has seen Manila as an important ally in its "rebalance" of resources to Asia in the face of a rising China. (Reuters)

Philippines: Minister says US trade relations will continue, despite President's announcement

Philippine police used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 anti-US protesters outside the US embassy in Manila on Wednesday, as television news footage showed a patrol van, which had come under attack, driving at demonstrators.

The rally came as President Rodrigo Duterte visits Beijing to strengthen relations with the world&#39;s second-largest economy amid deteriorating ties with former colonial power the United States, sparked by his controversial war on illegal drugs.

Police made 29 arrests at the rally while at least 10 people were taken to hospital after being hit by the police van, Renato Reyes, secretary general of left-wing activist group Bayan (Nation), told reporters.

The protesters were calling for the removal of US troops from the southern island of Mindanao.

&quot;There was absolutely no justification (for the police violence),&quot; Reyes said. &quot;Even as the president avowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the US.&quot;

In a series of conflicting statements, Duterte has insulted US President Barack Obama and the US ambassador in Manila for questioning his war on drugs, which has led to the deaths of 2,300 suspected users and pushers. He told Obama to &quot;go to hell&quot; and alluded to severing ties with Washington.

Then, after weeks of anti-American rhetoric, Duterte said the Philippines would maintain its existing defence treaties and its military alliances.

The comments have left Americans and US businesses in the Philippines jittery about their future.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

The protesters were calling for the removal of US troops from the southern island of Mindanao

Philippine police used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 anti-US protesters outside the US embassy in Manila on Wednesday, as television news footage showed a patrol van, which had come under attack, driving at demonstrators. The rally came as President Rodrigo Duterte visits Beijing to strengthen relations with the world's second-largest economy amid deteriorating ties with former colonial power the United States, sparked by his controversial war on illegal drugs. Police made 29 arrests at the rally while at least 10 people were taken to hospital after being hit by the police van, Renato Reyes, secretary general of left-wing activist group Bayan (Nation), told reporters. The protesters were calling for the removal of US troops from the southern island of Mindanao. "There was absolutely no justification (for the police violence)," Reyes said. "Even as the president avowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the US." In a series of conflicting statements, Duterte has insulted US President Barack Obama and the US ambassador in Manila for questioning his war on drugs, which has led to the deaths of 2,300 suspected users and pushers. He told Obama to "go to hell" and alluded to severing ties with Washington. Then, after weeks of anti-American rhetoric, Duterte said the Philippines would maintain its existing defence treaties and its military alliances. The comments have left Americans and US businesses in the Philippines jittery about their future. (Reuters)

Philippine police van drives into anti-US protesters

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday defended his threat to kill criminals as &quot;perfect&quot; and vowed no let-up in his war on crime, as the death toll surged past 3,700.

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Thursday she was &quot;deeply concerned&quot; about the violence, and signalled Duterte could face prosecution by her body for his incitements to kill.

But Duterte launched a typically defiant counter-attack on Friday, defending his rhetoric and the crime war that is seeing more that 1,000 people killed every month.

&quot;There is nothing wrong in threatening criminals to death. By that statement alone: &#39;You criminals, I will kill you. Do not fool around.&#39; It is a perfect statement,&quot; Duterte said.

Describing his critics as &quot;fools&quot;, Duterte reiterated his position he was not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals and pledged the crime war would continue until there were no more illegal drugs in society.

&quot;I will not stop. Be sure of it, you can cast it in whatever stone. I will not stop until the last pusher, until the last drug lord is taken away.&quot;

Duterte, 71, won May elections in a landslide on a pledge to eradicate drugs.

Last month Duterte said he would be &quot;happy to slaughter&quot; three million drug addicts, and likened his campaign to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler&#39;s efforts to exterminate Jews in Europe.

He later apologised for his Hitler reference, but said he was &quot;emphatic&quot; about wanting to kill all drug addicts. &nbsp;

Since Duterte took office, police have killed 1,578 people and 2,151 have died in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures released Friday.

The total of 3,729 is 368 more than the previous police update released last week.

The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have condemned alleged extrajudicial killings and warned of a breakdown in the rule of law.

Bensouda indicated Thursday that Duterte was at risk of joining the likes of late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and Sudan&#39;s President Omar al-Bashir, in being indicted by the International Criminal Court.

&quot;Let me be clear: any person in the&nbsp;Philippines&nbsp;who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing... to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable for prosecution before the Court,&quot; she said in a statement.

The Philippine government this week invited UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to investigate the killings.

But Duterte vowed on Thursday to &quot;humiliate&quot; her and any other critics if they dared to come to the&nbsp;Philippines&nbsp;and investigate.

Polls show Filipinos overwhelmingly support Duterte&#39;s war on crime.&nbsp;

(AFP)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte defended his threat to kill criminals as 'perfect' and vowed no let-up in his war on crime

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday defended his threat to kill criminals as "perfect" and vowed no let-up in his war on crime, as the death toll surged past 3,700. International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Thursday she was "deeply concerned" about the violence, and signalled Duterte could face prosecution by her body for his incitements to kill. But Duterte launched a typically defiant counter-attack on Friday, defending his rhetoric and the crime war that is seeing more that 1,000 people killed every month. "There is nothing wrong in threatening criminals to death. By that statement alone: 'You criminals, I will kill you. Do not fool around.' It is a perfect statement," Duterte said. Describing his critics as "fools", Duterte reiterated his position he was not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals and pledged the crime war would continue until there were no more illegal drugs in society. "I will not stop. Be sure of it, you can cast it in whatever stone. I will not stop until the last pusher, until the last drug lord is taken away." Duterte, 71, won May elections in a landslide on a pledge to eradicate drugs. Last month Duterte said he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts, and likened his campaign to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's efforts to exterminate Jews in Europe. He later apologised for his Hitler reference, but said he was "emphatic" about wanting to kill all drug addicts. Since Duterte took office, police have killed 1,578 people and 2,151 have died in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures released Friday. The total of 3,729 is 368 more than the previous police update released last week. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have condemned alleged extrajudicial killings and warned of a breakdown in the rule of law. Bensouda indicated Thursday that Duterte was at risk of joining the likes of late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, in being indicted by the International Criminal Court. "Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing... to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable for prosecution before the Court," she said in a statement. The Philippine government this week invited UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to investigate the killings. But Duterte vowed on Thursday to "humiliate" her and any other critics if they dared to come to the Philippines and investigate. Polls show Filipinos overwhelmingly support Duterte's war on crime. (AFP)

Duterte backs war on drugs as death toll climbs

The foreign minister of the Philippines has said President Rodrigo Duterte wishes to&nbsp;liberate the country from its &quot;shackling dependency&quot; on the United States, especially when America refuses to guarantee that it will come to the Philippines&#39;&nbsp;aid when its sovereignity is under threat.&nbsp;

In a Facebook post, the country&#39;s&nbsp;foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay&nbsp;said, &quot;Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation&#39;s subservience to United States&#39; interests.&quot; &nbsp;

Yasay added that while the Philippines was grateful to the US for many things,&nbsp;&quot;the stark reality is that even in protecting our territorial boundaries and the exclusive use of our maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, our defensive forces remain grossly incapable in meeting the security threats that we face from potential foes, not to mention their stagnating impact on our development,&quot; Reuters reported.&nbsp;

&quot;Worse is that our only ally could not give us the assurance that in taking a hard line towards the enforcement of our sovereignty rights under international law, it will promptly come to our defence under our existing military treaty and agreements, &quot; Reuters reported. This, Reuters reported, was the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s tough anti-American stance.&nbsp;

Yasay also accused the United States of using a &quot;carrot and stick&quot; policy to keep the&nbsp;Philippines dependent on it, even after 70 years of independence.&nbsp;

Yasay&#39;s comments come after President&nbsp;Duterte announced that joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines would stop, and that he might at some point &quot;break up&quot; with the US.&nbsp;

On Thursday, Duterte challenged the US and EU to withdraw all aid to the country if they were uncomfortable with his war on drugs.

US response

US state department spokesman John Kirby said they are&nbsp;&quot;mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now,&quot; Reuters quoted him as saying.&nbsp;

He also told reporters in his daily news briefing that US aid to the Philippines for the fiscal year starting October 1 was 180 million dollars and that &quot;we&#39;re&nbsp;committed&quot;&nbsp;to delivering that and working on areas of mutual interest.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Perfecto Yasay accused the US of not providing an assurance that it would protect the Philippines' rights in the South China Sea dispute

The foreign minister of the Philippines has said President Rodrigo Duterte wishes to liberate the country from its "shackling dependency" on the United States, especially when America refuses to guarantee that it will come to the Philippines' aid when its sovereignity is under threat. In a Facebook post, the country's foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay said, "Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation's subservience to United States' interests." Yasay added that while the Philippines was grateful to the US for many things, "the stark reality is that even in protecting our territorial boundaries and the exclusive use of our maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, our defensive forces remain grossly incapable in meeting the security threats that we face from potential foes, not to mention their stagnating impact on our development," Reuters reported. "Worse is that our only ally could not give us the assurance that in taking a hard line towards the enforcement of our sovereignty rights under international law, it will promptly come to our defence under our existing military treaty and agreements, " Reuters reported. This, Reuters reported, was the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte's tough anti-American stance. Yasay also accused the United States of using a "carrot and stick" policy to keep the Philippines dependent on it, even after 70 years of independence. Yasay's comments come after President Duterte announced that joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines would stop, and that he might at some point "break up" with the US. On Thursday, Duterte challenged the US and EU to withdraw all aid to the country if they were uncomfortable with his war on drugs. US response US state department spokesman John Kirby said they are "mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now," Reuters quoted him as saying. He also told reporters in his daily news briefing that US aid to the Philippines for the fiscal year starting October 1 was 180 million dollars and that "we're committed" to delivering that and working on areas of mutual interest. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Duterte wants to free Philippines of 'shackling dependency' on US: Foreign minister

&nbsp;

&nbsp;There are two versions of how Manila pedicab driver Neptali Celestino died.

According to Philippines police, he shot at plainclothes officers during a sting operation on September 12, and they returned fire. His family says police burst into their ramshackle home, cornered an unarmed Celestino and shot him in front of his teenage sons.

Whatever the case, Celestino&#39;s days seem to have been numbered. His name had appeared on a police &quot;watch list&quot; of drug suspects drawn up with the help of community leaders and other people who lived alongside him in Palatiw, a frenetic, traffic-choked area on the eastern side of the nation&#39;s capital.

The local officials who help cops draw up these lists are foot soldiers in a war on drugs that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

Most of the 1,377 people shot by the police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa. It was unclear how many of the remaining 2,275 victims, who human rights activists suspect were mostly killed by vigilantes, were on the lists.

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The campaign draws its momentum from President Duterte: Last Friday, he seemed to compare himself to Hitler and said he would be &quot;happy to slaughter&quot; three million drug addicts in the Philippines. But the campaign&#39;s efficiency depends on the lowliest officials in the country&#39;s barangays - its districts and villages.

&quot;They are on the forefront of this fight,&quot; Dela Rosa told Reuters. &quot;They can identify the drug users and pushers in their barangays. They know everyone.&quot;

Motorbike-riding assassins

Interviews with local police, residents and barangay officials reveal the mechanics of an anti-drugs crusade that the popular Duterte has vowed to wage until next June in the face of global condemnation.

Barangay leaders, known as &quot;captains&quot;, have been instrumental in drawing up the lists, say police.

Maricar Asilo Vivero is the captain of Pinagbuhatan, a Manila barangay with about 145,000 people, and says she is an enthusiastic supporter of Duterte&#39;s campaign.

&quot;The war on drugs is good,&quot; she said. &quot;It lowers crime. It identifies those who want to change.&quot;

The night before, said Vivero, motorbike-riding assassins killed two men who had been named as pushers on the barangay&#39;s watch list. Vivero said she sympathised with the victims&#39; families but didn&#39;t feel responsible for the deaths.

People weren&#39;t included on the watch list with &quot;the objective of killing them, or asking the police or authorities to kill them,&quot; she said. &quot;Our objective is to guide them, to direct their lives to the better - not to kill.&quot;

Asked if people named on the watch list were more likely to get killed, Vivero replied: &quot;No, I don&#39;t think so.&quot;

There were 323 suspected users and dealers on Pinagbuhatan&#39;s watch list, according to a computer print-out seen by Reuters. It had been swelled by people who had gone to the barangay office to admit to police they were users, a process known as &quot;surrendering&quot;.

Often a family affair

The origins of the barangay system predate the arrival of Spanish colonisers in the 16th century. In Manila, a barangay can consist of just two densely populated streets; in the countryside, it can sprawl for miles.

Each has a barangay captain and six kagawad, or councillors, who are elected in polls often dogged by allegations of corruption. And as with more senior posts in the Philippines, the barangay captaincy often passes between members of the same family.

The barangay office sits at the heart of the community and, on any given day, its hallways are clogged with people seeking so-called &quot;clearances.&quot; These are certificates, signed by the captain, for people needing to establish residency, set up a business, apply for a job or enroll a child at a local school.

Barangay captains routinely attend the weddings, baptisms and funerals of constituents, and even victims of serious crimes will sometimes report to them first rather than the police.

&quot;They trust us more and get an immediate response,&quot; said Eriberto Guevarra, who for 11 years was captain of Palatiw.

His wife Dinah now occupies the position, while Eriberto works at her side as a self-styled &quot;peace and order czar&quot;.

&quot;Drug personalities&quot;

The Barangay Anti-Drug Action Committees (BADACs) play a key role in helping the police identify alleged drug dealers and users in each district.

Each BADAC&#39;s 6-10 members are chosen by the barangay captain, who also chairs the committee. They might be teachers, church workers, youth leaders or members of other civil society groups.

Each BADAC provides the names of what police term &quot;drug personalities&quot;, meaning suspected users or dealers, most of them small-time. Police say they then &quot;validate&quot; these names in consultation with national anti-narcotics and intelligence officials. They also add names of their own.

First created by the government in 1998, BADACs were meant to convene every month, but for years many did little or existed only on paper. Duterte not only revived the BADACs, he made them the lynchpin of his war on drugs.

Duterte pioneered the nationwide campaign in the southern city of Davao, where he was mayor for 22 years.

There, barangay leaders and police compiled similar lists that were used by death squads to assassinate hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, said Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report. Duterte denied any involvement in the killings.

&quot;A grudge and a gun&quot;

Officials say the watch lists are not arbitrary hit lists.

Metro Manila&#39;s list of 11,700 users and dealers has been &quot;validated and revalidated by intelligence&quot;, said Kimberley Molitas, police spokeswoman for a region that has seen more than a quarter of the drug-war deaths.

Human rights monitors and some officials counter that the process is open to abuse.

Lists have included the names of people &quot;who are not even drug users, never mind pushers,&quot; said Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a commissioner at the Philippines&#39; Commission on Human Rights.

&quot;It&#39;s an environment conducive to someone with a grudge and a gun to hunt you down,&quot; she said.

In one high-profile case, the bullet-riddled body of Mark Culata was found in Cavite, a province south of Manila, on Sept. 9. It bore a placard identifying him as a drug dealer.

Culata&#39;s mother Eva told local media that her 27-year-old son had nothing to do with drugs and had been heading overseas to start a job. Police told Reuters in a statement that investigators were considering the &quot;illegal drug trade and love triangle&quot; as a possible motive.

Four officers involved in the case have been moved to administrative positions pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines equivalent of the FBI. Culata&#39;s death was raised as a possible extrajudicial killing in a Philippines Senate hearing on October 3.

Police told Reuters that watch lists are confidential. But so-called &quot;knock and plead&quot; operations, in which police visit drug suspects at their homes and urge them to mend their ways, means inclusion on a list is often public knowledge.

Drug pushers and users are also urged to &quot;surrender&quot; to the police at barangay meetings that are, again, public. Their names are added to the watch list.

The process resembles a mass arrest. The so-called &quot;surrenderers&quot; are questioned by police, who ask for details of their dealers and fellow users. This information can be used to identify other drug suspects, police said. The names of surrenderers are later added to a national database so they can be watched even if they move to another barangay.

After the questioning, the users are fingerprinted and pose for a mugshot holding a whiteboard bearing their name and that day&#39;s date. Raising their right hands, they then swear to stay away from drugs and support &quot;the government and the police in their noble campaign.&quot;

In the following weeks, said barangay captain Vivero, surrenderers are expected to do community service such as painting walls, unclogging sewers or picking up trash.

Intended to change

Former barangay leader Eriberto Guevarra said he tried to avert the killing of pedicab driver Celestino. The dead man, Guevarra said, was just a small-time dealer and user, not the &quot;notorious pusher&quot; police dubbed him.

&quot;He was endangered because he was on the watch list,&quot; he said.

Guevarra said he had warned Celestino to stop dealing and using drugs. Three days before his death Celestino had attended a three-hour &quot;drug awareness&quot; seminar run by police and barangay officials.

&quot;It was his intention to change,&quot; said Guevarra.

John Patrick Celestino, 17, one of Celestino&#39;s four children, trembled as he recalled the night his father died.

The dogs began barking at about 9 p.m. There were armed men at the door who showed John Patrick a photo on a cellphone. &quot;Is this your father?&quot; they demanded.

When he said it was, according to John Patrick, the men rushed upstairs and kicked open the door to a small room where Celestino was hiding.

John Patrick, who had followed them to the room, said: &quot;The men kept shouting, &#39;Where&#39;s the shabu?&#39; Where&#39;s the shabu?&#39;&quot; referring to the local name for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug widely available in the Philippines.

He told them his father was unarmed and begged them not to shoot. But one gunman fired three rounds into the room, and the teenager heard his father gasp with pain.

The gunman then ordered John Patrick to flee. As he ran downstairs, he heard five more shots.

Police said they found a .22 revolver and three sachets of shabu on Celestino. His wife Zandey, 38, denies this was the case.

&quot;My husband had already surrendered, so why did they kill him?&quot; she asked. &quot;Why didn&#39;t they give him one more chance?&quot;

Sitting around his coffin, relatives told a Reuters reporter of a long-running feud with another family, who they blamed for telling the police that Celestino was a drug dealer. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim.

&quot;Nefarious activities&quot;

Celestino was on the watch list as a drug dealer, confirmed chief superintendent Romulo Sapitula, director of the Eastern Police District of Manila.

&quot;The information came from the community,&quot; he said. &quot;It was given by barangay officials and validated by the police.&quot;

The &quot;best information&quot; comes from the neighbourhood itself, he added. &quot;Most of the watch lists which came from that place are true and correct.&quot;

Celestino&#39;s surrender as a drug user didn&#39;t put him above suspicion, said Sapitula.

&quot;There are some on the watch list who surrender but continue their nefarious activities,&quot; he said. &quot;They pretend to embrace the programme, but in reality ... they are still doing their old thing. And there are some who surrender as users when they&#39;re really pushers.&quot;

Sapitula confirmed the operation was carried out by seven or eight members of the anti-narcotics police. He rejected the family&#39;s claim that drugs were planted on Celestino. An internal investigation, he said, had concluded that the police opened fire in self-defence because Celestino had &quot;opted to shoot it out&quot;.

Sapitula said family members shouldn&#39;t be afraid to file a formal complaint, but only &quot;if they&#39;re innocent&quot; and not involved in criminal activities.

The Celestinos told Reuters there was little point appealing to the same people who had killed their relative. Zandey said she feared not only for the safety of her children, but for other members of her extended family who, like Celestino, had &quot;surrendered&quot; to authorities.

Her older son, Cedric, 19, was so traumatised by the killing that he has stopped talking, she said.

&quot;It will be bloody&quot;

Some local leaders plead with the police to spare lives.

In the Manila slum of Tondo, barangay captain Erick Simbiling said two policemen recently told him they had &quot;scheduled to kill&quot; a local man who was a small-time but persistent drug dealer.

&quot;I spoke to the policemen and said, &#39;Please give him a chance,&#39;&quot; Simbiling said.

He then visited the dealer and urged him to surrender to the authorities. The dealer did so, like hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, and then fled the barangay.

The barangay captains are under pressure from the president himself. Duterte has vowed to publish a list of a thousand elected officials suspected of drug ties. Prominent among them are captains who have connived with terrorists and drug lords, he told reporters on Sept. 18.

But not all barangays have toed the line. Police in central Luzon told Reuters that 31 of the region&#39;s 3,100 barangays had not supplied a watch list.

Romeo Caramat, police chief of Bulacan province in central Luzon, said these barangay officials were probably either allied to Duterte&#39;s political opponents or bankrolled by drug traffickers.

&quot;Actually, one of the barangay captains who was uncooperative got killed,&quot; said Caramat. The man was shot in early August in San Jose Del Monte city by unidentified assassins on a motorbike, he said.

&quot;One barangay chairman runs out of luck!&quot; added Caramat, laughing. He described the man as &quot;a well-known drug pusher and user&quot; who had not included himself on his barangay&#39;s watch list.

The dead captain, Damaso Santiago, was a drug user, not a dealer, said his younger brother Arman Santiago. &quot;Anyone you ask, they will say he does not peddle drugs. He was just a victim of drug use,&quot; said Arman.

Police chief Caramat described his province&#39;s 17,000 drug dealers and users as &quot;a walking time bomb&quot;. For him, the death toll in his province is a measure of the campaign&#39;s success.

&quot;It will be bloody,&quot; he said. &quot;You have a problem with dengue. You think you can solve it without killing mosquitos?&quot;

(Reuters)

Most of the 1,377 people shot by police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa

There are two versions of how Manila pedicab driver Neptali Celestino died. According to Philippines police, he shot at plainclothes officers during a sting operation on September 12, and they returned fire. His family says police burst into their ramshackle home, cornered an unarmed Celestino and shot him in front of his teenage sons. Whatever the case, Celestino's days seem to have been numbered. His name had appeared on a police "watch list" of drug suspects drawn up with the help of community leaders and other people who lived alongside him in Palatiw, a frenetic, traffic-choked area on the eastern side of the nation's capital. The local officials who help cops draw up these lists are foot soldiers in a war on drugs that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30. Most of the 1,377 people shot by the police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa. It was unclear how many of the remaining 2,275 victims, who human rights activists suspect were mostly killed by vigilantes, were on the lists. Duterte's war on drugs has killed more than 3,600 people since he took office on June 30 × The campaign draws its momentum from President Duterte: Last Friday, he seemed to compare himself to Hitler and said he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts in the Philippines. But the campaign's efficiency depends on the lowliest officials in the country's barangays - its districts and villages. "They are on the forefront of this fight," Dela Rosa told Reuters. "They can identify the drug users and pushers in their barangays. They know everyone." Motorbike-riding assassins Interviews with local police, residents and barangay officials reveal the mechanics of an anti-drugs crusade that the popular Duterte has vowed to wage until next June in the face of global condemnation. Barangay leaders, known as "captains", have been instrumental in drawing up the lists, say police. Maricar Asilo Vivero is the captain of Pinagbuhatan, a Manila barangay with about 145,000 people, and says she is an enthusiastic supporter of Duterte's campaign. "The war on drugs is good," she said. "It lowers crime. It identifies those who want to change." The night before, said Vivero, motorbike-riding assassins killed two men who had been named as pushers on the barangay's watch list. Vivero said she sympathised with the victims' families but didn't feel responsible for the deaths. People weren't included on the watch list with "the objective of killing them, or asking the police or authorities to kill them," she said. "Our objective is to guide them, to direct their lives to the better - not to kill." Asked if people named on the watch list were more likely to get killed, Vivero replied: "No, I don't think so." There were 323 suspected users and dealers on Pinagbuhatan's watch list, according to a computer print-out seen by Reuters. It had been swelled by people who had gone to the barangay office to admit to police they were users, a process known as "surrendering". Often a family affair The origins of the barangay system predate the arrival of Spanish colonisers in the 16th century. In Manila, a barangay can consist of just two densely populated streets; in the countryside, it can sprawl for miles. Each has a barangay captain and six kagawad, or councillors, who are elected in polls often dogged by allegations of corruption. And as with more senior posts in the Philippines, the barangay captaincy often passes between members of the same family. The barangay office sits at the heart of the community and, on any given day, its hallways are clogged with people seeking so-called "clearances." These are certificates, signed by the captain, for people needing to establish residency, set up a business, apply for a job or enroll a child at a local school. Barangay captains routinely attend the weddings, baptisms and funerals of constituents, and even victims of serious crimes will sometimes report to them first rather than the police. "They trust us more and get an immediate response," said Eriberto Guevarra, who for 11 years was captain of Palatiw. His wife Dinah now occupies the position, while Eriberto works at her side as a self-styled "peace and order czar". "Drug personalities" The Barangay Anti-Drug Action Committees (BADACs) play a key role in helping the police identify alleged drug dealers and users in each district. Each BADAC's 6-10 members are chosen by the barangay captain, who also chairs the committee. They might be teachers, church workers, youth leaders or members of other civil society groups. Each BADAC provides the names of what police term "drug personalities", meaning suspected users or dealers, most of them small-time. Police say they then "validate" these names in consultation with national anti-narcotics and intelligence officials. They also add names of their own. First created by the government in 1998, BADACs were meant to convene every month, but for years many did little or existed only on paper. Duterte not only revived the BADACs, he made them the lynchpin of his war on drugs. Duterte pioneered the nationwide campaign in the southern city of Davao, where he was mayor for 22 years. There, barangay leaders and police compiled similar lists that were used by death squads to assassinate hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, said Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report. Duterte denied any involvement in the killings. "A grudge and a gun" Officials say the watch lists are not arbitrary hit lists. Metro Manila's list of 11,700 users and dealers has been "validated and revalidated by intelligence", said Kimberley Molitas, police spokeswoman for a region that has seen more than a quarter of the drug-war deaths. Human rights monitors and some officials counter that the process is open to abuse. Lists have included the names of people "who are not even drug users, never mind pushers," said Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a commissioner at the Philippines' Commission on Human Rights. "It's an environment conducive to someone with a grudge and a gun to hunt you down," she said. In one high-profile case, the bullet-riddled body of Mark Culata was found in Cavite, a province south of Manila, on Sept. 9. It bore a placard identifying him as a drug dealer. Culata's mother Eva told local media that her 27-year-old son had nothing to do with drugs and had been heading overseas to start a job. Police told Reuters in a statement that investigators were considering the "illegal drug trade and love triangle" as a possible motive. Four officers involved in the case have been moved to administrative positions pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines equivalent of the FBI. Culata's death was raised as a possible extrajudicial killing in a Philippines Senate hearing on October 3. Police told Reuters that watch lists are confidential. But so-called "knock and plead" operations, in which police visit drug suspects at their homes and urge them to mend their ways, means inclusion on a list is often public knowledge. Drug pushers and users are also urged to "surrender" to the police at barangay meetings that are, again, public. Their names are added to the watch list. The process resembles a mass arrest. The so-called "surrenderers" are questioned by police, who ask for details of their dealers and fellow users. This information can be used to identify other drug suspects, police said. The names of surrenderers are later added to a national database so they can be watched even if they move to another barangay. After the questioning, the users are fingerprinted and pose for a mugshot holding a whiteboard bearing their name and that day's date. Raising their right hands, they then swear to stay away from drugs and support "the government and the police in their noble campaign." In the following weeks, said barangay captain Vivero, surrenderers are expected to do community service such as painting walls, unclogging sewers or picking up trash. Intended to change Former barangay leader Eriberto Guevarra said he tried to avert the killing of pedicab driver Celestino. The dead man, Guevarra said, was just a small-time dealer and user, not the "notorious pusher" police dubbed him. "He was endangered because he was on the watch list," he said. Guevarra said he had warned Celestino to stop dealing and using drugs. Three days before his death Celestino had attended a three-hour "drug awareness" seminar run by police and barangay officials. "It was his intention to change," said Guevarra. John Patrick Celestino, 17, one of Celestino's four children, trembled as he recalled the night his father died. The dogs began barking at about 9 p.m. There were armed men at the door who showed John Patrick a photo on a cellphone. "Is this your father?" they demanded. When he said it was, according to John Patrick, the men rushed upstairs and kicked open the door to a small room where Celestino was hiding. John Patrick, who had followed them to the room, said: "The men kept shouting, 'Where's the shabu?' Where's the shabu?'" referring to the local name for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug widely available in the Philippines. He told them his father was unarmed and begged them not to shoot. But one gunman fired three rounds into the room, and the teenager heard his father gasp with pain. The gunman then ordered John Patrick to flee. As he ran downstairs, he heard five more shots. Police said they found a .22 revolver and three sachets of shabu on Celestino. His wife Zandey, 38, denies this was the case. "My husband had already surrendered, so why did they kill him?" she asked. "Why didn't they give him one more chance?" Sitting around his coffin, relatives told a Reuters reporter of a long-running feud with another family, who they blamed for telling the police that Celestino was a drug dealer. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim. "Nefarious activities" Celestino was on the watch list as a drug dealer, confirmed chief superintendent Romulo Sapitula, director of the Eastern Police District of Manila. "The information came from the community," he said. "It was given by barangay officials and validated by the police." The "best information" comes from the neighbourhood itself, he added. "Most of the watch lists which came from that place are true and correct." Celestino's surrender as a drug user didn't put him above suspicion, said Sapitula. "There are some on the watch list who surrender but continue their nefarious activities," he said. "They pretend to embrace the programme, but in reality ... they are still doing their old thing. And there are some who surrender as users when they're really pushers." Sapitula confirmed the operation was carried out by seven or eight members of the anti-narcotics police. He rejected the family's claim that drugs were planted on Celestino. An internal investigation, he said, had concluded that the police opened fire in self-defence because Celestino had "opted to shoot it out". Sapitula said family members shouldn't be afraid to file a formal complaint, but only "if they're innocent" and not involved in criminal activities. The Celestinos told Reuters there was little point appealing to the same people who had killed their relative. Zandey said she feared not only for the safety of her children, but for other members of her extended family who, like Celestino, had "surrendered" to authorities. Her older son, Cedric, 19, was so traumatised by the killing that he has stopped talking, she said. "It will be bloody" Some local leaders plead with the police to spare lives. In the Manila slum of Tondo, barangay captain Erick Simbiling said two policemen recently told him they had "scheduled to kill" a local man who was a small-time but persistent drug dealer. "I spoke to the policemen and said, 'Please give him a chance,'" Simbiling said. He then visited the dealer and urged him to surrender to the authorities. The dealer did so, like hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, and then fled the barangay. The barangay captains are under pressure from the president himself. Duterte has vowed to publish a list of a thousand elected officials suspected of drug ties. Prominent among them are captains who have connived with terrorists and drug lords, he told reporters on Sept. 18. But not all barangays have toed the line. Police in central Luzon told Reuters that 31 of the region's 3,100 barangays had not supplied a watch list. Romeo Caramat, police chief of Bulacan province in central Luzon, said these barangay officials were probably either allied to Duterte's political opponents or bankrolled by drug traffickers. "Actually, one of the barangay captains who was uncooperative got killed," said Caramat. The man was shot in early August in San Jose Del Monte city by unidentified assassins on a motorbike, he said. "One barangay chairman runs out of luck!" added Caramat, laughing. He described the man as "a well-known drug pusher and user" who had not included himself on his barangay's watch list. The dead captain, Damaso Santiago, was a drug user, not a dealer, said his younger brother Arman Santiago. "Anyone you ask, they will say he does not peddle drugs. He was just a victim of drug use," said Arman. Police chief Caramat described his province's 17,000 drug dealers and users as "a walking time bomb". For him, the death toll in his province is a measure of the campaign's success. "It will be bloody," he said. "You have a problem with dengue. You think you can solve it without killing mosquitos?" (Reuters)

In Duterte's war on drugs, local residents help draw up hit lists

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been rated &quot;very good&quot; in an opinion poll on his first 90 days in office, which has been defined largely by his deadly war on drugs and vitriol against Western leaders.

Only 11 per cent of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) agency said they were dissatisfied with his performance. That gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of 64 per cent, getting him off to a better start than predecessors Benigno Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but short of the 66 per cent achieved by Fidel Ramos in 1992.

The rating, announced on Thursday, was calculated by deducting the 11 per cent from the 76 per cent of respondents who said they were satisfied with Duterte&#39;s presidency, then rounding it off. Thirteen per cent were undecided.

The SWS survey did not ask respondents to give a reason for the rating. It was conducted in face-to-face interviews held from September&nbsp;24-27, after Duterte had a spat with President Barack Obama over criticism of his anti-drugs campaign but before he said he was seeking new alliances with China and Russia.

A survey by Pulse Asia, another polling agency, less than a month after he took office on June 30 said Duterte had a record 91 per cent trust rating. The two polls are not comparable.

Duterte won the May 9 election by a substantial margin after promising to expand a ruthless anti-crime campaign he started while mayor of Davao City, which had earned him nicknames like &quot;the Punisher&quot; and &quot;Duterte Harry&quot;.

Political analyst Nelson Navarro said the SWS survey suggested Filipinos felt safer because Duterte had followed through with his promised war on crime and drugs, in which over 3,400 people have been killed.

He said Duterte&#39;s abrasive style and his sometimes profane outbursts against the United States, European Union and United Nations were not discrediting him either, and supporters would rally in his defence amid criticism at home and abroad.

&quot;This is not going to be good manners and right conduct. What you see here is exactly what you get. His tough stance has gained him popularity across the Philippines,&quot; Navarro said.

&quot;Everyone likes to dump on President Duterte for the extra-judicial killings but ... there is a kind of backlash on the perception of the West.&quot;

The SWS poll considers a net approval rating of over 70 per cent as &quot;excellent&quot; and 50-69 per cent as &quot;very good&quot;.

(Reuters)

Only 11 per cent of Filipinos surveyed said they were dissatisfied with his performance

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been rated "very good" in an opinion poll on his first 90 days in office, which has been defined largely by his deadly war on drugs and vitriol against Western leaders. Only 11 per cent of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) agency said they were dissatisfied with his performance. That gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of 64 per cent, getting him off to a better start than predecessors Benigno Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but short of the 66 per cent achieved by Fidel Ramos in 1992. The rating, announced on Thursday, was calculated by deducting the 11 per cent from the 76 per cent of respondents who said they were satisfied with Duterte's presidency, then rounding it off. Thirteen per cent were undecided. The SWS survey did not ask respondents to give a reason for the rating. It was conducted in face-to-face interviews held from September 24-27, after Duterte had a spat with President Barack Obama over criticism of his anti-drugs campaign but before he said he was seeking new alliances with China and Russia. A survey by Pulse Asia, another polling agency, less than a month after he took office on June 30 said Duterte had a record 91 per cent trust rating. The two polls are not comparable. Duterte won the May 9 election by a substantial margin after promising to expand a ruthless anti-crime campaign he started while mayor of Davao City, which had earned him nicknames like "the Punisher" and "Duterte Harry". Political analyst Nelson Navarro said the SWS survey suggested Filipinos felt safer because Duterte had followed through with his promised war on crime and drugs, in which over 3,400 people have been killed. He said Duterte's abrasive style and his sometimes profane outbursts against the United States, European Union and United Nations were not discrediting him either, and supporters would rally in his defence amid criticism at home and abroad. "This is not going to be good manners and right conduct. What you see here is exactly what you get. His tough stance has gained him popularity across the Philippines," Navarro said. "Everyone likes to dump on President Duterte for the extra-judicial killings but ... there is a kind of backlash on the perception of the West." The SWS poll considers a net approval rating of over 70 per cent as "excellent" and 50-69 per cent as "very good". (Reuters)

Duterte rated 'very good' in first 90 days: Poll

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte compared his deadly crackdown on drug addicts in the country with Hitler&#39;s campaign to exterminate Jews.

&quot;Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I&#39;d be happy to slaughter them,&quot; Duterte said in his home city of Davao shortly after returning from Vietnam, AFP reported.

&quot;At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...,&quot; he said, then paused. &quot;But you know, my victims, I would like to be (sic) all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.&quot;

President Duterte started a bloody war on drugs since he assumed office on June 30 this year. About 3,000 people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign in the last three months.

The campaign has come to be known as &quot;cardboard justice&quot; as placards with &quot;drug peddler&quot; or &quot;drug addict&quot; written on it have been placed on corpses that are left on the streets.

His anti-semitic statement has caused an uproar among the Jewish community.

World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said in a statement that Duterte should retract his comments as they were &quot;profoundly inhumane&quot; and disrespected human life.&nbsp;

Around six million Jews, including 1.5 million children, were killed in The Holocaust, a genocide that took place under Adolf Hitler&#39;s Nazi Germany.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

More than 3,000 people have died in three months in a crackdown campaign overseen by the country's president

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte compared his deadly crackdown on drug addicts in the country with Hitler's campaign to exterminate Jews. "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said in his home city of Davao shortly after returning from Vietnam, AFP reported. "At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...," he said, then paused. "But you know, my victims, I would like to be (sic) all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition." President Duterte started a bloody war on drugs since he assumed office on June 30 this year. About 3,000 people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign in the last three months. The campaign has come to be known as "cardboard justice" as placards with "drug peddler" or "drug addict" written on it have been placed on corpses that are left on the streets. His anti-semitic statement has caused an uproar among the Jewish community. World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said in a statement that Duterte should retract his comments as they were "profoundly inhumane" and disrespected human life. Around six million Jews, including 1.5 million children, were killed in The Holocaust, a genocide that took place under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Philippines: Duterte likens deadly war on drugs to Holocaust

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday declared that the upcoming Philippines-US military exercise scheduled for October will be the last to happen under his administration, Reuters reported today.

&nbsp;

&quot;I am serving notice now to the Americans, this will be the last military exercise,&quot; Reuters quoted Duterte as saying .&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;Jointly, Philippines-US: the last one,&quot; he said during a visit to Vietnam.

&nbsp;

Duterte said he wants to establish new &ldquo;alliances trade and commerce deals&rdquo; with Russia and China, and that China does not approve of &ldquo;war-games&rdquo; being conducted in the Philippines with Washington. He, however, added that the Philippines will continue to maintain security agreements with Washington.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The spokesman for the US State of Department, John Kirby, said that he hasn&#39;t been notified on any such development. He, however, added that the United States will always remain committed to meeting the security engagements with the Philippines.

&nbsp;

A US defence official said that the prospects of an end to the joint patrols with the Philippines was low, Reuters reported.

&nbsp;

Philippines, that has carried out two patrol operations with the US within its 12-nautical mile territorial waters, has not officially committed to carrying out the patrols outside the territory.

&nbsp;

Duterte &#39;taken out of context&#39;

When asked if Duterte was serious about ending the joint military exercises, the foreign minister reportedly said that the President&#39;s statement &ldquo;has been taken out of context&rdquo; and that Duterte had meant only to restrict joint exercises within the Philippines&#39; territorial waters.

&nbsp;

Speculations are rife that the US-Philippines relationship might go for a toss as Duterete&#39;s stand could possibly inspire China to exploit the relationship between the two old allies.

&nbsp;

&quot;The US-Philippines relationship might become strained and even shaken,&quot; Richard Jacobson, an American security expert, said.

&nbsp;

&quot;The US geopolitical stakes in the region are much too high to react to his hyperbole. The current attitude in Washington is mature - more of patience than feeling provoked,&quot; he added.

&nbsp;

&#39;Obama a son of a bitch&#39;

Since last month, Duterte has been expressing resentment in his near-daily bouts of outbursts on the US&#39; alleged atrocities on the Philippines almost a century ago. He even called Barack Obama &ldquo;a son of a bitch&rdquo; ahead of a summit of Asian leaders in Laos earlier this month.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

China and the Philippines have fought over sovereignty in the South China Sea, with the Philippines winning the case in the international court over disputed islands.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)&nbsp;

Duterte's remarks give one of the strongest signs yet of fissures in a historic alliance that Washington has relied upon

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday declared that the upcoming Philippines-US military exercise scheduled for October will be the last to happen under his administration, Reuters reported today. "I am serving notice now to the Americans, this will be the last military exercise," Reuters quoted Duterte as saying . "Jointly, Philippines-US: the last one," he said during a visit to Vietnam. Duterte said he wants to establish new “alliances trade and commerce deals” with Russia and China, and that China does not approve of “war-games” being conducted in the Philippines with Washington. He, however, added that the Philippines will continue to maintain security agreements with Washington. The spokesman for the US State of Department, John Kirby, said that he hasn't been notified on any such development. He, however, added that the United States will always remain committed to meeting the security engagements with the Philippines. A US defence official said that the prospects of an end to the joint patrols with the Philippines was low, Reuters reported. Philippines, that has carried out two patrol operations with the US within its 12-nautical mile territorial waters, has not officially committed to carrying out the patrols outside the territory. Duterte 'taken out of context' When asked if Duterte was serious about ending the joint military exercises, the foreign minister reportedly said that the President's statement “has been taken out of context” and that Duterte had meant only to restrict joint exercises within the Philippines' territorial waters. Speculations are rife that the US-Philippines relationship might go for a toss as Duterete's stand could possibly inspire China to exploit the relationship between the two old allies. "The US-Philippines relationship might become strained and even shaken," Richard Jacobson, an American security expert, said. "The US geopolitical stakes in the region are much too high to react to his hyperbole. The current attitude in Washington is mature - more of patience than feeling provoked," he added. 'Obama a son of a bitch' Since last month, Duterte has been expressing resentment in his near-daily bouts of outbursts on the US' alleged atrocities on the Philippines almost a century ago. He even called Barack Obama “a son of a bitch” ahead of a summit of Asian leaders in Laos earlier this month. China and the Philippines have fought over sovereignty in the South China Sea, with the Philippines winning the case in the international court over disputed islands. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Duterte wants end to Philippines-US military exercises

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte personally ordered executions of Muslims, &quot;drug addicts&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;criminals&quot;&nbsp;during his time as mayor of Davao city in the 1990s, a self-confessed assassin testified. 
 
Duterte personally gunned down a justice department employee, the suspected hitman Edgar Matobato further alleged. The incumbent president apparently killed him with a submachine gun, he said.&nbsp; 
 
Matobato&nbsp;provided graphic details of how Duterte presided over murders of as many as 1,400 people&nbsp;during a televised senate committee hearing. 
 
He also accused Duterte of ordering bombings of mosques in retaliation to an attack on a cathedral in Davao. &quot;He ordered us to kill Muslims,&quot; said the 57-year-old&nbsp;who claims to be a part of the Davao Death Squad. 
 
A person fed to a crocodile, most victims shred to pieces and buried in a quarry and some people&#39;s stomachs slashed and then dumped into the sea, were but a few ways in which Duterte&#39;s alleged death squad carried out extrajudicial killings in a clandestine manner. 
 
&quot;They were killed like chickens,&quot; he told the televised hearing.&nbsp;&quot;Our job was to kill criminals like drug pushers, rapists, snatchers.&quot; 
 
Duterte&#39;s team, meanwhile, denied the allegations made by Matobato. &quot;I don&#39;t think he&#39;s (Duterte) capable of giving those orders,&quot; the president&#39;s spokesperson Martin Andanar said, AFP reported. 
 
Davao city vice mayor and Duterte&#39;s eldest son Paolo called the triggerman a &quot;madman&quot;. &quot;They (the statements made by Matobato) are mere hearsay.&quot; 
 
Paolo&#39;s name was also named during the hearing, with the testifier saying he was a habitual drug user and ordered the death of a hotel owner in 2014. 
 
The president has often denied being involved in any wrongdoing during his tenure as the mayor of Davao City.&nbsp; 
 
The senate investigation is being led by Leila de Lima, a firece critic of Duterte&#39;s current war on drugs that has killed at least 3,400 people in the last 78 days.&nbsp; 
 
(WION)

Rodrigo Duterte personally gunned down a justice department employee, self-confessed assassin Edgar Matobato further alleged

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte personally ordered executions of Muslims, "drug addicts" and "criminals" during his time as mayor of Davao city in the 1990s, a self-confessed assassin testified. Duterte personally gunned down a justice department employee, the suspected hitman Edgar Matobato further alleged. The incumbent president apparently killed him with a submachine gun, he said. Matobato provided graphic details of how Duterte presided over murders of as many as 1,400 people during a televised senate committee hearing. He also accused Duterte of ordering bombings of mosques in retaliation to an attack on a cathedral in Davao. "He ordered us to kill Muslims," said the 57-year-old who claims to be a part of the Davao Death Squad. A person fed to a crocodile, most victims shred to pieces and buried in a quarry and some people's stomachs slashed and then dumped into the sea, were but a few ways in which Duterte's alleged death squad carried out extrajudicial killings in a clandestine manner. "They were killed like chickens," he told the televised hearing. "Our job was to kill criminals like drug pushers, rapists, snatchers." Duterte's team, meanwhile, denied the allegations made by Matobato. "I don't think he's (Duterte) capable of giving those orders," the president's spokesperson Martin Andanar said, AFP reported. Davao city vice mayor and Duterte's eldest son Paolo called the triggerman a "madman". "They (the statements made by Matobato) are mere hearsay." Paolo's name was also named during the hearing, with the testifier saying he was a habitual drug user and ordered the death of a hotel owner in 2014. The president has often denied being involved in any wrongdoing during his tenure as the mayor of Davao City. The senate investigation is being led by Leila de Lima, a firece critic of Duterte's current war on drugs that has killed at least 3,400 people in the last 78 days. (WION)

Philippines president Duterte ordered killings of Muslims & criminals: Death Squad hitman

The Philippines assured the United States on Tuesday that a treaty between them would be honoured and security ties were &quot;rock-solid&quot;, despite President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s profane tirades against US President Barack Obama.&nbsp; 
 
The firebrand leader launched more verbal salvos on Monday. Duterte said he was &quot;not a fan&quot; of Washington and that the US special forces stationed in the country were complicating counter-insurgency operations. &nbsp; 
 
Philippine foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay sought to downplay Duterte&#39;s comments. 
 
He guaranteed that there was no shift in Philippines&#39; policy with respect to the Americans.&nbsp; 
 
Philippines&nbsp;is dependent on the United States as it competes with China over the maritime dispute.&nbsp; 
 
Duterte&#39;s spokesman Ernesto Abella assured that the administration would honour its existing defence agreements.&nbsp; 
 
He said it also included the 2014 accord wherein the US military had access to at least five Philippine bases.&nbsp; 
 
In April, the Philippine Navy conducted joint naval patrols with the US in the South China Sea to counter Chinese actions.&nbsp; 
 
But on Tuesday, Duterte said the country would refrain from similar exercises to avoid any further tensions in the region.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We will not join any expedition of patrolling the seas. I will not allow it because I do not want my country to be involved in a hostile act,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
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After offensive comments against US President Obama, Philippine President Duterte calls for removal of US troops from country

The Philippines assured the United States on Tuesday that a treaty between them would be honoured and security ties were "rock-solid", despite President Rodrigo Duterte's profane tirades against US President Barack Obama. The firebrand leader launched more verbal salvos on Monday. Duterte said he was "not a fan" of Washington and that the US special forces stationed in the country were complicating counter-insurgency operations. Philippine foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay sought to downplay Duterte's comments. He guaranteed that there was no shift in Philippines' policy with respect to the Americans. Philippines is dependent on the United States as it competes with China over the maritime dispute. Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella assured that the administration would honour its existing defence agreements. He said it also included the 2014 accord wherein the US military had access to at least five Philippine bases. In April, the Philippine Navy conducted joint naval patrols with the US in the South China Sea to counter Chinese actions. But on Tuesday, Duterte said the country would refrain from similar exercises to avoid any further tensions in the region. "We will not join any expedition of patrolling the seas. I will not allow it because I do not want my country to be involved in a hostile act," Duterte said. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Philippines assures ties with US 'rock-solid'

US President Barack Obama cancelled his meeting with his Fillipino counterpart Rodrigo Duterte day after Duterte lashed out at Obama with an obscene remark, a White House spokesman said today.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;President Obama will not be holding a bilateral meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines this afternoon,&quot; National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in Washington. 
 
Duterte had described Obama as a &#39;son of a bitch&#39; ahead of his meeting &nbsp;with the US President at a regional conference in the Laos capital of Vientiane, organised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.&nbsp; 
 
Anticipating that Obama would talk about Dutere&#39;s &#39;war on drugs&#39; in Philippines, he warned that he would not be &#39;lectured&#39; by Obama. &quot;Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet,&quot; &nbsp;he scoffed at a media gathering on Monday.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people,&quot; he was quoted as saying.&nbsp; 
 
The White House has said Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte. 
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Obama learned about the remarks while he was the G20 summit in Hangzhou city of China.&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;&ldquo;I always want to make sure that if I&#39;m having a meeting, that it&#39;s actually productive and we&#39;re getting something done,&rdquo; he said reacting to the insult.&nbsp; 
 
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Anticipating that Obama would discuss drug war dispute in Philippines, Duterte warned that he would not be lectured by Obama.
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He was set to give an address on the importance he has placed on the Southast Asia in his foreign and economic policy during his two terms in office, which will end on January 20, setting the stage for three days of meetings with regional leaders, Reuters said.&nbsp; 
 
Meanwhile, according to AFP, tensions over China&#39;s growing territorial ambitions are also set to flare at the annual event meant to foster harmony but which often highlights regional rows.&nbsp; 
 
The Philippines has been a key US ally in the South China Sea dispute with China. Washington blames Beijing for militarising a vital global trade route and jeopardising freedom of movement at sea and in the air. China, however, denies the claims.&nbsp; 
 
After Duterte took over the President&#39;s office on June 30, US-Philippines relations have plunged under a barrage of insults . Duterte, known for his colourful remarks, had previously also branded the US ambassador to Manila a &#39;son of a whore&#39; &nbsp; 
 
Earlier, the Fillipino President had turned down a meeting with UN chief who raised concerns over Duterte&#39;s drug war in Phillipines where over 2,400 people have been killed under the dispute, according to police figures.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
 
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US President Barack Obama cancelled his meeting with his Fillipino counterpart Rodrigo Duterte day after Duterte lashed out at Obama with an obscene remark, a White House spokesman said today. "President Obama will not be holding a bilateral meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines this afternoon," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in Washington. Duterte had described Obama as a 'son of a bitch' ahead of his meeting with the US President at a regional conference in the Laos capital of Vientiane, organised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Anticipating that Obama would talk about Dutere's 'war on drugs' in Philippines, he warned that he would not be 'lectured' by Obama. "Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet," he scoffed at a media gathering on Monday. "I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people," he was quoted as saying. The White House has said Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte. “I always want to make sure that if I'm having a meeting, that it's actually productive and we're getting something done,” Obama said reacting to the insult. Obama learned about the remarks while he was the G20 summit in Hangzhou city of China. “I always want to make sure that if I'm having a meeting, that it's actually productive and we're getting something done,” he said reacting to the insult. Anticipating that Obama would discuss drug war dispute in Philippines, Duterte warned that he would not be lectured by Obama. He was set to give an address on the importance he has placed on the Southast Asia in his foreign and economic policy during his two terms in office, which will end on January 20, setting the stage for three days of meetings with regional leaders, Reuters said. Meanwhile, according to AFP, tensions over China's growing territorial ambitions are also set to flare at the annual event meant to foster harmony but which often highlights regional rows. The Philippines has been a key US ally in the South China Sea dispute with China. Washington blames Beijing for militarising a vital global trade route and jeopardising freedom of movement at sea and in the air. China, however, denies the claims. After Duterte took over the President's office on June 30, US-Philippines relations have plunged under a barrage of insults . Duterte, known for his colourful remarks, had previously also branded the US ambassador to Manila a 'son of a whore' Earlier, the Fillipino President had turned down a meeting with UN chief who raised concerns over Duterte's drug war in Phillipines where over 2,400 people have been killed under the dispute, according to police figures. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Obama cancels meeting with Philippines President after obscene remark?

An average of 44 people are being killed each day in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;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. 
 
&quot;More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets,&quot; said Duterte, who scored a landslide election victory in May largely on his promise to fight crime. 
 
&quot;Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue.&quot; 
 
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&nbsp;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 &quot;son of a whore&quot;. 
 
Philippine police insist they are killing only in self-defense. 
 
&quot;They have guns, they are drug-crazed. Our policemen are just defending themselves,&quot; 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&#39;s biggest problem. 
 
(AFP)

President Rodrigo Duterte has defied a wave of international condemnation and has vowed to kill every drug trafficker in the country

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-defense. "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. (AFP)

Philippines war against drugs claiming 44 lives a day: Police

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with US President Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week. But, he added that Obama must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights. 
 
Since Duterte became president two months ago, there has been a surge in killings related to drugs. Washington has expressed concerns regarding Philippines&rsquo; war on drugs. 
 
Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on September 6, Duterte told reporters: &quot;Depends to what degree&quot;. 
 
&quot;They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
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Since Duterte became president two months ago, there has been a surge in killings related to drugs in Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with US President Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week. But, he added that Obama must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights. Since Duterte became president two months ago, there has been a surge in killings related to drugs. Washington has expressed concerns regarding Philippines’ war on drugs. Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on September 6, Duterte told reporters: "Depends to what degree". "They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk," Duterte said. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Obama must understand problem first before discussing human rights: Duterte

Aides to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sought to backtrack Monday on his threat to leave the United Nations, saying he only meant to express frustration at UN criticism of his deadly war on crime. 
 
&quot;It was a way of stating that the nation is sovereign. Okay? It was not a statement of fact that we are leaving,&quot; presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters. 
 
In a press conference that began just after 1:00 am on Sunday, Duterte launched a profanity-laced tirade against the UN after two of its rapporteurs expressed alarm at his war on crime, which has claimed more than 1,700 lives in less than two months. 
 
&quot;Maybe we&rsquo;ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you,&quot; Duterte, who frequently uses swear words to insult his critics and others, said in the press conference. 
 
The UN&#39;s special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, said Duterte&#39;s promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law. 
 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June also strongly criticised Duterte, who during the election campaign promised to kill 100,000 people and dump so many bodies in Manila Bay that the fish would grow fat from feeding on them. 
 
With Duterte&#39;s threats making global headlines, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay held a brief news conference specifically on the issue on Monday. 
 
&quot;The statement of the president is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustrations and it is not any statement that should indicate a threat to leave the United Nations,&quot; Yasay said. 
 
Yasay also sought to lay blame on the reporter who asked Duterte a question about the issue. 
 
&quot;He already ended up the press conference, as I observed, but the press was still needling him with a lot of questions so it was in this context that he made these statements,&quot; Yasay said. 
 
&quot;And if you&#39;re especially tired, disappointed and frustrated and angry, and under the circumstances, we must give a leeway on the part of the president for this kind of reaction. Like us, he is also human.&quot; 
 
Nevertheless, Yasay said the final word rested with Duterte. 
 
&quot;I will assure you the president is very responsible in making statements. He will not make statements unless he means them,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)

'It was a way of stating that the nation is sovereign. Okay?It was not a statement of fact that we are leaving,' said presidential spokesman

Aides to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sought to backtrack Monday on his threat to leave the United Nations, saying he only meant to express frustration at UN criticism of his deadly war on crime. "It was a way of stating that the nation is sovereign. Okay? It was not a statement of fact that we are leaving," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters. In a press conference that began just after 1:00 am on Sunday, Duterte launched a profanity-laced tirade against the UN after two of its rapporteurs expressed alarm at his war on crime, which has claimed more than 1,700 lives in less than two months. "Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you," Duterte, who frequently uses swear words to insult his critics and others, said in the press conference. The UN's special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, said Duterte's promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June also strongly criticised Duterte, who during the election campaign promised to kill 100,000 people and dump so many bodies in Manila Bay that the fish would grow fat from feeding on them. With Duterte's threats making global headlines, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay held a brief news conference specifically on the issue on Monday. "The statement of the president is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustrations and it is not any statement that should indicate a threat to leave the United Nations," Yasay said. Yasay also sought to lay blame on the reporter who asked Duterte a question about the issue. "He already ended up the press conference, as I observed, but the press was still needling him with a lot of questions so it was in this context that he made these statements," Yasay said. "And if you're especially tired, disappointed and frustrated and angry, and under the circumstances, we must give a leeway on the part of the president for this kind of reaction. Like us, he is also human." Nevertheless, Yasay said the final word rested with Duterte. "I will assure you the president is very responsible in making statements. He will not make statements unless he means them," he said. (AFP)

Philippines backtracks on threat to pull out of UN

The Philippines&#39; firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked a fresh diplomatic row with his colourful language, calling the US ambassador &quot;gay&quot; in comments that prompted Washington to summon Manila&#39;s envoy to complain. 
 
In the latest of series of tirades, Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in televised comments made Friday. 
 
&quot;As you know, I&#39;m fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry&#39;s) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
Duterte, 71, surged to power with a landslide in May following an incendiary campaign in which he gleefully used foul language to disrespect authority figures, from his local political rivals to the pope. 
 
He first came into conflict with US envoy Goldberg on the campaign trail, after he said he wanted to rape a &quot;beautiful&quot; Australian missionary who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a 1989 prison riot in Davao, the city he ran for two decades.
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<h5>As you know, I&#39;m fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry&#39;s) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off - Rodrigo Duterte</h5>
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Goldberg and the Australian Ambassador both strongly criticised these comments. 
 
&quot;He meddled during the elections, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that,&quot; Duterte said Friday. 
 
The US State Department said that the Filipino charge d&#39;affaires, Patrick Chuasoto, had been summoned Monday to discuss Duterte&#39;s comments. 
 
&quot;We had that conversation,&quot; department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. 
 
&quot;I think what we were seeking is perhaps a better understanding of why that statement was made,&quot; she added. 
 
Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose confirmed the meeting but said Manila&#39;s envoy had been &quot;invited to the State Department to discuss the entire breadth of Philippines-US relations.&quot; 
 
&quot;Philippine-US relations remain strong,&quot; he told AFP Wednesday. 
 
A former US colony, the Philippines and the United States have long shared a military treaty. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg

The Philippines' firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked a fresh diplomatic row with his colourful language, calling the US ambassador "gay" in comments that prompted Washington to summon Manila's envoy to complain. In the latest of series of tirades, Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in televised comments made Friday. "As you know, I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off," Duterte said. Duterte, 71, surged to power with a landslide in May following an incendiary campaign in which he gleefully used foul language to disrespect authority figures, from his local political rivals to the pope. He first came into conflict with US envoy Goldberg on the campaign trail, after he said he wanted to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a 1989 prison riot in Davao, the city he ran for two decades. As you know, I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off - Rodrigo Duterte Goldberg and the Australian Ambassador both strongly criticised these comments. "He meddled during the elections, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that," Duterte said Friday. The US State Department said that the Filipino charge d'affaires, Patrick Chuasoto, had been summoned Monday to discuss Duterte's comments. "We had that conversation," department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. "I think what we were seeking is perhaps a better understanding of why that statement was made," she added. Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose confirmed the meeting but said Manila's envoy had been "invited to the State Department to discuss the entire breadth of Philippines-US relations." "Philippine-US relations remain strong," he told AFP Wednesday. A former US colony, the Philippines and the United States have long shared a military treaty. (AFP)

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte calls US envoy 'gay, son of a wh**e'

The newly convened Philippine Congress heard a proposal today to re-impose the death penalty for &#39;heinous crimes&#39;, giving priority to President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s push for capital punishment in its first legislative session. 
 
The death penalty bill was received the same day Duterte took office on June 30, and it cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of &quot;the most perverse and atrocious crimes&quot;. 
 
Introduced by two lawmakers, including a house speaker allied with Duterte, the bill cites the need for a war on crime and argues that existing laws were not a deterrent and had &quot;emasculated&quot; the criminal justice system. 
 
The death penalty was repealed in 2006 following pressure from church groups. 
 
The bill comes as Duterte&#39;s war on crime is in full swing, with at least 200 people killed in the past month, according to police, who say many of the deaths are the work of vigilantes. 
 
Other estimates of the body count are far higher and human rights groups are outraged. 
 
Duterte&#39;s vow to wipe out crime and drugs by the end of the year resonated among millions of locals when he campaigned for election on threats to kill drug dealers who refused to surrender and dump their bodies in Manila Bay. 
 
He will not get everything his way, however, with the bill calling for lethal injection as a method of administering the punishment. Duterte had called for death by hanging, which he described graphically during speeches. 
 
(Reuters)

Philippine Congress discusses death penalty bill that cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of most atrocious crimes

The newly convened Philippine Congress heard a proposal today to re-impose the death penalty for 'heinous crimes', giving priority to President Rodrigo Duterte's push for capital punishment in its first legislative session. The death penalty bill was received the same day Duterte took office on June 30, and it cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of "the most perverse and atrocious crimes". Introduced by two lawmakers, including a house speaker allied with Duterte, the bill cites the need for a war on crime and argues that existing laws were not a deterrent and had "emasculated" the criminal justice system. The death penalty was repealed in 2006 following pressure from church groups. The bill comes as Duterte's war on crime is in full swing, with at least 200 people killed in the past month, according to police, who say many of the deaths are the work of vigilantes. Other estimates of the body count are far higher and human rights groups are outraged. Duterte's vow to wipe out crime and drugs by the end of the year resonated among millions of locals when he campaigned for election on threats to kill drug dealers who refused to surrender and dump their bodies in Manila Bay. He will not get everything his way, however, with the bill calling for lethal injection as a method of administering the punishment. Duterte had called for death by hanging, which he described graphically during speeches. (Reuters)

Philippine President Duterte pushes for re-imposition of death penalty in first legislative reform

The&nbsp;Philippines&#39; Supreme Court today&nbsp;dismissed a plunder case against influential former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ordered her immediate release after five years under hospital arrest.

The diminutive Arroyo, 69, was leader of the archipelago nation from 2001 to 2010 but her presidency was plagued by allegations of corruption and vested interests.

Judges voted 11-4 in her favour to throw out the plunder case due to a lack of evidence, court spokesman Theodore Te told a televised news conference.

She was initially detained for alleged electoral fraud but was later charged with plunder in connection with 366 million pesos ($7.82 million) in state lottery funds, some of which had been allocated for intelligence gathering.

Despite her detention, a spinal condition and legal cases against her, Arroyo remains an influential figure in national politics. She was re-elected to congress in May for a third successive term, despite not attending any house sessions.

The court decision is almost certain to be welcomed by new President Rodrigo Duterte, who had said he would seek her release.

Arroyo still faces an investigation into allegations she took kickbacks over a $329 million broadband Internet deal with China&#39;s ZTE Corp in 2007, which fell through a year later. She denies all charges and has posted bail. 
 
(Reuters)

The court dismissed a plunder case against Gloria Arroyo due to 'lack of evidence'

The Philippines' Supreme Court today dismissed a plunder case against influential former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ordered her immediate release after five years under hospital arrest. The diminutive Arroyo, 69, was leader of the archipelago nation from 2001 to 2010 but her presidency was plagued by allegations of corruption and vested interests. Judges voted 11-4 in her favour to throw out the plunder case due to a lack of evidence, court spokesman Theodore Te told a televised news conference. She was initially detained for alleged electoral fraud but was later charged with plunder in connection with 366 million pesos ($7.82 million) in state lottery funds, some of which had been allocated for intelligence gathering. Despite her detention, a spinal condition and legal cases against her, Arroyo remains an influential figure in national politics. She was re-elected to congress in May for a third successive term, despite not attending any house sessions. The court decision is almost certain to be welcomed by new President Rodrigo Duterte, who had said he would seek her release. Arroyo still faces an investigation into allegations she took kickbacks over a $329 million broadband Internet deal with China's ZTE Corp in 2007, which fell through a year later. She denies all charges and has posted bail. (Reuters)

Philippines' top court frees ex-president Arroyo after five years of hospital arrest

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. 
 
Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday&#39;s verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
&quot;We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping,&quot; Yasay said in an interview. 
 
The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino&#39;s previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China&#39;s claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. 
 
China&#39;s claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. 
 
The Philippines&#39; case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal&#39;s ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. 
 
Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. 
 
The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China&#39;s expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany&#39;s march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. 
 
Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. 
 
&quot;I would like to be forward-looking on these matters,&quot; he said when asked to comment on Aquino&#39;s Nazi statement. 
 
&quot;I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue.&quot; 
 
He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any &quot;provocative statements&quot; following the release of the ruling. 
 
Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China &quot;as soon as possible&quot;. 
 
Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. 
 
He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. 
 
However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. 
 
Duterte and Yasay met with China&#39;s ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of foreign affairs today. 
 
(AFP) 
 
&nbsp;

However, the Philippines' foreign secretary insisted that it will not concede any of its rights in the sea

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte's administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday's verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping," Yasay said in an interview. The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino's previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China's claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. China's claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. The Philippines' case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal's ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China's expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany's march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. "I would like to be forward-looking on these matters," he said when asked to comment on Aquino's Nazi statement. "I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue." He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any "provocative statements" following the release of the ruling. Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China "as soon as possible". Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. Duterte and Yasay met with China's ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of foreign affairs today. (AFP)

Philippines willing to share resources in South China Sea with Beijing

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. 
 
Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday&#39;s verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
&quot;We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping,&quot; Yasay said in an interview. 
 
The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino&#39;s previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China&#39;s claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. 
 
China`s claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. 
 
The Philippines` case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal`s ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. 
 
Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. 
 
The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China`s expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany`s march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. 
 
Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. 
 
&quot;I would like to be forward-looking on these matters,&quot; he said when asked to comment on Aquino`s Nazi statement. 
 
&quot;I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue.&quot; 
 
He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any &quot;provocative statements&quot; following the release of the ruling. 
 
Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China &quot;as soon as possible&quot;. 
 
Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. 
 
He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. 
 
However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. 
 
Duterte and Yasay met with China`s ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday. 
 
(AFP) 
 
&nbsp;

'Negotiations to jointly cover natural gas reserves and fishing grounds with Philippines exclusive economic zone will begin begin soon '

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte's administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday's verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping," Yasay said in an interview. The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino's previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China's claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. China`s claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. The Philippines` case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal`s ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China`s expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany`s march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. "I would like to be forward-looking on these matters," he said when asked to comment on Aquino`s Nazi statement. "I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue." He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any "provocative statements" following the release of the ruling. Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China "as soon as possible". Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. Duterte and Yasay met with China`s ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday. (AFP)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday offered China conciliatory talks on a long-awaited international tribunal ruling over Beijing&#39;s maritime claims, a week before the verdict. 
 
Duterte, who was sworn into office last week, said he was optimistic that the UN-backed tribunal in the Hague would rule in the favour of the Philippines. 
 
&quot;If it&#39;s favourable to us, let&#39;s talk,&quot; Duterte said in a speech before the Philippine Air Force at the former US military base of Clark, about an hour&#39;s drive from the capital Manila. 
 
An international tribunal will rule on July 12 in a case the Philippines brought challenging China&#39;s claims to most of the strategically vital South China Sea. 
 
China&#39;s claims extend even close to the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. 
 
China has said it would reject the ruling and refused to recognise the Permanent Court of Arbitration&#39;s jurisdiction over the issue. 
 
Duterte has said he would not &#39;taunt or flaunt&#39; a favourable ruling 
 
Duterte has said he wants friendly relations with China, a departure from his predecessor Benigno Aquino who angered Beijing by launching the legal action and strengthening ties with the Philippines&#39; longtime ally the United States. 
 
Aquino&#39;s government argued that China&#39;s claims to most of the South China Sea and its massive island-building programme in the disputed waters violated international law. 
 
Aquino had refused to hold direct talks with China on the issue, pointing to Beijing&#39;s insistence that its claims were indisputable and thus there was nothing to negotiate. 
 
Aquino had also feared negotiations would disadvantage the Philippines, which has far fewer diplomatic resources. 
 
In contrast, Duterte had previously said he was open to talks with China, and even joint ventures to share resources in the sea. 
 
But Tuesday&#39;s comments were the first since becoming president confirming he was open to talks, which have long been favoured by China because of its perceived advantage. 
 
After assuming the presidency, Duterte had said that he would not &quot;taunt or flaunt&quot; a favourable ruling. 
 
Ahead of the ruling, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing was &quot;not afraid of trouble&quot; while state-run media urged China to prepare for &quot;military confrontation&quot; in the disputed waters. 
 
Duterte on Tuesday reiterated he was against any armed conflict. 
 
&quot;We are not prepared to go to war. War is a dirty word,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
He added that even if the tribunal rules against the Philippines, his administration would accept the judgment. 
 
&quot;We will proceed accordingly. We will always decide for the greater interest of our country.&quot; 
 
The sea is the main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans, where over $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually. 
 
Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to the waters, which are believed to sit atop vast mineral reserves. 
 
(AFP)

Duterte has said he wants friendly relations with China, a departure from his predecessor Benigno Aquino

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday offered China conciliatory talks on a long-awaited international tribunal ruling over Beijing's maritime claims, a week before the verdict. Duterte, who was sworn into office last week, said he was optimistic that the UN-backed tribunal in the Hague would rule in the favour of the Philippines. "If it's favourable to us, let's talk," Duterte said in a speech before the Philippine Air Force at the former US military base of Clark, about an hour's drive from the capital Manila. An international tribunal will rule on July 12 in a case the Philippines brought challenging China's claims to most of the strategically vital South China Sea. China's claims extend even close to the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. China has said it would reject the ruling and refused to recognise the Permanent Court of Arbitration's jurisdiction over the issue. Duterte has said he would not 'taunt or flaunt' a favourable ruling Duterte has said he wants friendly relations with China, a departure from his predecessor Benigno Aquino who angered Beijing by launching the legal action and strengthening ties with the Philippines' longtime ally the United States. Aquino's government argued that China's claims to most of the South China Sea and its massive island-building programme in the disputed waters violated international law. Aquino had refused to hold direct talks with China on the issue, pointing to Beijing's insistence that its claims were indisputable and thus there was nothing to negotiate. Aquino had also feared negotiations would disadvantage the Philippines, which has far fewer diplomatic resources. In contrast, Duterte had previously said he was open to talks with China, and even joint ventures to share resources in the sea. But Tuesday's comments were the first since becoming president confirming he was open to talks, which have long been favoured by China because of its perceived advantage. After assuming the presidency, Duterte had said that he would not "taunt or flaunt" a favourable ruling. Ahead of the ruling, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing was "not afraid of trouble" while state-run media urged China to prepare for "military confrontation" in the disputed waters. Duterte on Tuesday reiterated he was against any armed conflict. "We are not prepared to go to war. War is a dirty word," Duterte said. He added that even if the tribunal rules against the Philippines, his administration would accept the judgment. "We will proceed accordingly. We will always decide for the greater interest of our country." The sea is the main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans, where over $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to the waters, which are believed to sit atop vast mineral reserves. (AFP)

Philippines President offers China conciliatory talks over maritime claims

Two things catch the eye in the office of Joselito Esquivel, a police colonel enforcing a national crackdown on drugs in the Philippines&#39; most crime-ridden district: a pair of boxing gloves in a display cabinet and an M4 assault rifle lying beside him. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s all-out war,&quot; the Quezon City officer says of a spike in killings of suspected drug dealers by police across the country since last month&#39;s election of Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking city mayor, as the country&#39;s President. &quot;Duterte has already given the impetus for this massive operation.&quot; 
 
Duterte has vowed to wipe out drug crime within six months, but, according to Chito Gascon, head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the aggressive rhetoric behind his promises has already instilled a sense of impunity among the police. 
 
&quot;Basically, you have Mr Duterte saying: &#39;It&#39;s okay, I&#39;ve got your back&#39;,&quot; said Gascon. 
 
On average, at least one person has been shot dead by police or anonymous vigilantes every day since the May 9 election that swept Duterte to power, an escalation from the first four months of the year when the rate was about two a week. 
 
Handwritten warning signs have been left on some corpses. 
 
Duterte, who will be inaugurated on Thursday for a six-year term, has cheered the police on: after a druglord was killed in a northern province recently, he travelled there to congratulate them and hand over a reward worth about $6,000. 
 
Critics, including leaders of the influential Roman Catholic Church and human rights advocates, fear a spiral of violence could lie ahead for the Philippines if vigilantism and summary executions become an accepted norm after Duterte takes office. 
 
&quot;My concern is that instead of law and order, what we will see is lawlessness and fear,&quot; said Gascon. &quot;What will result is an increase in the body-bag count.&quot; 
 
On Monday, Duterte branded as &quot;stupid&quot; human rights groups and lawmakers who have complained about his draconian plans to crush crime and re-introduce the death penalty. 
 
&quot;When you kill someone, rape, you should die,&quot; he told his last public meeting as mayor of Davao City, where death squads have killed hundreds of drug-pushers, petty criminals and even streetchildren since 1998, according to rights groups. 
 
Duterte denies any involvement in the vigilante killings. 
 
A political outsider whose coarse defiance of the traditional ruling class has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump, Duterte has even figured in commentaries on Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union as an example of a global trend towards populism triumphing over the establishment. 
 
Police covering their tracks 
 
Duterte&#39;s pick to be the country&#39;s police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, concedes that some recent killings may have been carried out by officers involved in the drugs business who were covering their tracks so that the new President does not go after them. 
 
&quot;That could be true,&quot; he told Reuters. &quot;Some police officers are shifting from drug protectors to drug punishers.&quot; 
 
But dela Rosa added that so much work towards wiping out drug crime has been accomplished recently that his job will be easy when he takes over at the end of this week. 
 
Railing against critics, he said most of the victims in the recent wave of killings were shot by police in self-defence. 
 
&quot;I have no problem how many people die in legitimate police operations, the police have a right to defend themselves,&quot; he said. &quot;We are police officers, we are not hard killers.&quot; 
 
Only two of the roughly 60 recent killings took place in Quezon City, a crowded and gritty part of sprawling Metro Manila that has the country&#39;s highest crime rate. Most were in areas outside the capital that are less intensively policed. 
 
Esquivel, the officer in Quezon City, said his force has also adopted a softer tack by inviting drug peddlers and addicts to surrender and go into rehabilitation. Just last week, over 1,000 gave themselves up there, he said. 
 
Despite that gentler approach, police in the Philippines are open about their readiness to use guns. 
 
Outside Esquivel&#39;s headquarters there is a police firing range and a banner cheerily announces a monthly &quot;shoot fest&quot;, a contest for officers where sometimes winners receive a gun. 
 
According to data from the University of Sydney, the number of guns in the Philippines is a small fraction of the total in the United States, but Filipinos seem much more inclined to use them. 
 
Gun deaths per 100,000 people in the United States was at 10.54 in 2014, but the Philippines rate of 7.2 in 2008, the last year for which figures were available, was not far behind. 
 
Narco-state 
 
Duterte has predicted that if the tide of drug addiction in the Philippines is not pushed back, it will become a narco-state. 
 
In 2012, the United Nations said the Philippines had the highest rate of methamphetamine use in East Asia, and according to a US state department report, 2.1 per cent of Flipinos aged 16 to 64 use the drug, which is known locally as &quot;shabu&quot;. 
 
There appears to be support in the Philippines for Duterte&#39;s uncompromising line on criminals. 
 
When a suspected rapist was killed in custody recently, the CHR raised concerns, but they were lost amid an outpouring of sympathy for the police on social and mainstream media. 
 
Still many people across the country are feeling anxious. 
 
&quot;There is a sense of fear because what was done to the hardened drug couriers, users and manufacturers could be done to you,&quot; said Winston Boston, a 49-year-old financial adviser in Manila. &quot;Anyone could just be accosted.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

The new President has already delivered the impetus for a massive operation to crack down on suspected druglords.

Two things catch the eye in the office of Joselito Esquivel, a police colonel enforcing a national crackdown on drugs in the Philippines' most crime-ridden district: a pair of boxing gloves in a display cabinet and an M4 assault rifle lying beside him. "It's all-out war," the Quezon City officer says of a spike in killings of suspected drug dealers by police across the country since last month's election of Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking city mayor, as the country's President. "Duterte has already given the impetus for this massive operation." Duterte has vowed to wipe out drug crime within six months, but, according to Chito Gascon, head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the aggressive rhetoric behind his promises has already instilled a sense of impunity among the police. "Basically, you have Mr Duterte saying: 'It's okay, I've got your back'," said Gascon. On average, at least one person has been shot dead by police or anonymous vigilantes every day since the May 9 election that swept Duterte to power, an escalation from the first four months of the year when the rate was about two a week. Handwritten warning signs have been left on some corpses. Duterte, who will be inaugurated on Thursday for a six-year term, has cheered the police on: after a druglord was killed in a northern province recently, he travelled there to congratulate them and hand over a reward worth about $6,000. Critics, including leaders of the influential Roman Catholic Church and human rights advocates, fear a spiral of violence could lie ahead for the Philippines if vigilantism and summary executions become an accepted norm after Duterte takes office. "My concern is that instead of law and order, what we will see is lawlessness and fear," said Gascon. "What will result is an increase in the body-bag count." On Monday, Duterte branded as "stupid" human rights groups and lawmakers who have complained about his draconian plans to crush crime and re-introduce the death penalty. "When you kill someone, rape, you should die," he told his last public meeting as mayor of Davao City, where death squads have killed hundreds of drug-pushers, petty criminals and even streetchildren since 1998, according to rights groups. Duterte denies any involvement in the vigilante killings. A political outsider whose coarse defiance of the traditional ruling class has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump, Duterte has even figured in commentaries on Britain's vote to leave the European Union as an example of a global trend towards populism triumphing over the establishment. Police covering their tracks Duterte's pick to be the country's police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, concedes that some recent killings may have been carried out by officers involved in the drugs business who were covering their tracks so that the new President does not go after them. "That could be true," he told Reuters. "Some police officers are shifting from drug protectors to drug punishers." But dela Rosa added that so much work towards wiping out drug crime has been accomplished recently that his job will be easy when he takes over at the end of this week. Railing against critics, he said most of the victims in the recent wave of killings were shot by police in self-defence. "I have no problem how many people die in legitimate police operations, the police have a right to defend themselves," he said. "We are police officers, we are not hard killers." Only two of the roughly 60 recent killings took place in Quezon City, a crowded and gritty part of sprawling Metro Manila that has the country's highest crime rate. Most were in areas outside the capital that are less intensively policed. Esquivel, the officer in Quezon City, said his force has also adopted a softer tack by inviting drug peddlers and addicts to surrender and go into rehabilitation. Just last week, over 1,000 gave themselves up there, he said. Despite that gentler approach, police in the Philippines are open about their readiness to use guns. Outside Esquivel's headquarters there is a police firing range and a banner cheerily announces a monthly "shoot fest", a contest for officers where sometimes winners receive a gun. According to data from the University of Sydney, the number of guns in the Philippines is a small fraction of the total in the United States, but Filipinos seem much more inclined to use them. Gun deaths per 100,000 people in the United States was at 10.54 in 2014, but the Philippines rate of 7.2 in 2008, the last year for which figures were available, was not far behind. Narco-state Duterte has predicted that if the tide of drug addiction in the Philippines is not pushed back, it will become a narco-state. In 2012, the United Nations said the Philippines had the highest rate of methamphetamine use in East Asia, and according to a US state department report, 2.1 per cent of Flipinos aged 16 to 64 use the drug, which is known locally as "shabu". There appears to be support in the Philippines for Duterte's uncompromising line on criminals. When a suspected rapist was killed in custody recently, the CHR raised concerns, but they were lost amid an outpouring of sympathy for the police on social and mainstream media. Still many people across the country are feeling anxious. "There is a sense of fear because what was done to the hardened drug couriers, users and manufacturers could be done to you," said Winston Boston, a 49-year-old financial adviser in Manila. "Anyone could just be accosted." (Reuters)

As Duterte takes over in Philippines, police killings stir fear

Philippine police killed 11 suspected drug dealers during operations at the weekend, police said today, adding to a surge of drugs-related killings since Rodrigo Duterte swept an election last month on promises to wipe out crime. 
 
Duterte&#39;s single-issue campaign of tackling illegal drugs and other crime within six months, and his staunch advocacy of extrajudicial killings, struck a chord with Filipino voters. However, rights groups have rebuked him over concerns that, as President, he would live up to his nickname of &quot;The Punisher&quot;. 
 
More than 40 drug suspects have been killed since Duterte&#39;s May 9 election victory compared to the 39 deaths recorded in the four months before it, said national police spokesman Wilben Mayor. 
 
Duterte takes office on June 30 and has repeatedly reassured police they would have his full support if they killed criminals who resisted with violence. He has also warned that police found to be involved in the drug trade would suffer the same fate. 
 
Speculation has been rife in Manila that some of the police involved in the drugs business were clearing the decks before Duterte takes office by eliminating criminals who could implicate them. 
 
However, incoming national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said drug peddlers were killed in legitimate operations. 
 
&quot;I would know if these people were killed in rub-outs,&quot; he said in a radio interview. 
 
Philippines media reported today that drug dealers were killed when they resisted arrest during operations in Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal, Bohol, and Cebu at the weekend. 
 
Police said many of those killed in the raids and undercover stings had chosen not to go quietly. 
 
&quot;Our undercover agents killed two known drug peddlers in sting operations,&quot; Adriano Enong, police chief in Rizal province just to the east of Manila, told reporters. 
 
&quot;There was a shootout between undercover police officers and drug peddlers when the men sensed they had sold 500 Pesos ($10.80) worth of drugs to policemen,&quot; he said. 
 
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle gave special prayers on Sunday urging incoming state officials to avoid a culture of death and reprisal. The prayers will be read each day before the new government takes office in the deeply religious, predominantly Catholic Philippines. 
 
Catholic bishops have been disturbed by statements attributed to Duterte warning of killings, and by his plan to seek the return of the death penalty by hanging. 
 
Duterte has also said some journalists were killed because they were corrupt. 
 
In southern Davao City, where Duterte was mayor for more than 20 years, rights groups documented a total of 1,400 unsolved murders from 1998, most of them petty criminals and street-level drug peddlers. Duterte denies any involvement. 
(Reuters)

More than 40 drug suspects have been killed since Rodrigo Duterte swept the presidential election last month

Philippine police killed 11 suspected drug dealers during operations at the weekend, police said today, adding to a surge of drugs-related killings since Rodrigo Duterte swept an election last month on promises to wipe out crime. Duterte's single-issue campaign of tackling illegal drugs and other crime within six months, and his staunch advocacy of extrajudicial killings, struck a chord with Filipino voters. However, rights groups have rebuked him over concerns that, as President, he would live up to his nickname of "The Punisher". More than 40 drug suspects have been killed since Duterte's May 9 election victory compared to the 39 deaths recorded in the four months before it, said national police spokesman Wilben Mayor. Duterte takes office on June 30 and has repeatedly reassured police they would have his full support if they killed criminals who resisted with violence. He has also warned that police found to be involved in the drug trade would suffer the same fate. Speculation has been rife in Manila that some of the police involved in the drugs business were clearing the decks before Duterte takes office by eliminating criminals who could implicate them. However, incoming national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said drug peddlers were killed in legitimate operations. "I would know if these people were killed in rub-outs," he said in a radio interview. Philippines media reported today that drug dealers were killed when they resisted arrest during operations in Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal, Bohol, and Cebu at the weekend. Police said many of those killed in the raids and undercover stings had chosen not to go quietly. "Our undercover agents killed two known drug peddlers in sting operations," Adriano Enong, police chief in Rizal province just to the east of Manila, told reporters. "There was a shootout between undercover police officers and drug peddlers when the men sensed they had sold 500 Pesos ($10.80) worth of drugs to policemen," he said. Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle gave special prayers on Sunday urging incoming state officials to avoid a culture of death and reprisal. The prayers will be read each day before the new government takes office in the deeply religious, predominantly Catholic Philippines. Catholic bishops have been disturbed by statements attributed to Duterte warning of killings, and by his plan to seek the return of the death penalty by hanging. Duterte has also said some journalists were killed because they were corrupt. In southern Davao City, where Duterte was mayor for more than 20 years, rights groups documented a total of 1,400 unsolved murders from 1998, most of them petty criminals and street-level drug peddlers. Duterte denies any involvement. (Reuters)

Philippine police kill 11 suspected drug dealers

&nbsp;Philippine media groups denounced President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday for saying journalists were being killed because they were corrupt and &quot;you are not exempted from assassination if you are a son of a bitch.&quot; 
 
Duterte&#39;s comments about extrajudicial killings, calling bishops &quot;sons of whores&quot; and a joke about a murdered rape victim do not appear to have dented his popularity in the largely Roman Catholic country. 
 
But his comments about killing journalists have struck a nerve. About 175 journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 1986, ranking it among the most dangerous places to work in the news business. 
 
Duterte addressed reporters on Tuesday in the southern city of Davao, where his approval of hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office. 
 
&quot;Most of you are clean, but do not ever say all journalists are clean,&quot; he said. &quot;Just because you are a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you are a son of a bitch.&quot; 
 
&quot;... Most of those killed, to be frank, have done something. You won&#39;t be killed if you don&#39;t do anything wrong.&quot; 
 
When a female journalist asked a question, he wolf-whistled at her. 
 
Ryan Rosuaro, head of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said media freedom and murder were no joking matters. 
 
&quot;It is appalling that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should justify the murder of journalists in the country by playing the corruption card,&quot; he said. 
 
Philippine presidential communications secretary, Herminio Coloma said journalists had a fundamental right to protection. 
 
&quot;We deplore the proposition that some journalists may have been assaulted or killed in view of their alleged involvement in media corruption,&quot; he said in a statement. &quot;It is the duty of government to arrest, prosecute and punish those responsible for violence against members of the media.&quot; 
 
Romel Regalado Bagares, executive director of the Center for International Law, said Duterte&#39;s comments showed &quot;a cynical attitude towards what is a serious concern to the international community&quot; and could perpetuate impunity for the killers. 
 
International media monitor the Committee to Protect Journalists joined the condemnation, saying the only way to address the &quot;woefully&quot; high number of unresolved murders was through the courts. 
 
&quot;President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s shocking remarks apparently excusing extrajudicial killings threaten to make the Philippines into a killing field for journalists,&quot; it said in a statement. &quot;We strongly urge him to retract his comments and to signal that he intends to protect, not target, the press.&quot; 
 
The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines also expressed alarm. 
 
&quot;Duterte&#39;s statement is a chilling reminder that journalists in the Philippines continue to live under threat, decades after (the association) was founded to fight for press freedom at the height of Ferdinand Marcos&#39;s dictatorship,&quot; it said.

Duterte's comments about extrajudicial killings, calling bishops "sons of whores" and joking about a murdered rape victim does not appear to have dented his popularity in the largely Roman Catholic country but his comments about killing journalists have struck a raw nerve.

Philippine media groups denounced President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday for saying journalists were being killed because they were corrupt and "you are not exempted from assassination if you are a son of a bitch." Duterte's comments about extrajudicial killings, calling bishops "sons of whores" and a joke about a murdered rape victim do not appear to have dented his popularity in the largely Roman Catholic country. But his comments about killing journalists have struck a nerve. About 175 journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 1986, ranking it among the most dangerous places to work in the news business. Duterte addressed reporters on Tuesday in the southern city of Davao, where his approval of hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office. "Most of you are clean, but do not ever say all journalists are clean," he said. "Just because you are a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you are a son of a bitch." "... Most of those killed, to be frank, have done something. You won't be killed if you don't do anything wrong." When a female journalist asked a question, he wolf-whistled at her. Ryan Rosuaro, head of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said media freedom and murder were no joking matters. "It is appalling that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should justify the murder of journalists in the country by playing the corruption card," he said. Philippine presidential communications secretary, Herminio Coloma said journalists had a fundamental right to protection. "We deplore the proposition that some journalists may have been assaulted or killed in view of their alleged involvement in media corruption," he said in a statement. "It is the duty of government to arrest, prosecute and punish those responsible for violence against members of the media." Romel Regalado Bagares, executive director of the Center for International Law, said Duterte's comments showed "a cynical attitude towards what is a serious concern to the international community" and could perpetuate impunity for the killers. International media monitor the Committee to Protect Journalists joined the condemnation, saying the only way to address the "woefully" high number of unresolved murders was through the courts. "President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte's shocking remarks apparently excusing extrajudicial killings threaten to make the Philippines into a killing field for journalists," it said in a statement. "We strongly urge him to retract his comments and to signal that he intends to protect, not target, the press." The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines also expressed alarm. "Duterte's statement is a chilling reminder that journalists in the Philippines continue to live under threat, decades after (the association) was founded to fight for press freedom at the height of Ferdinand Marcos's dictatorship," it said.

Philippines President-elect denounced for defending killing of journalists

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Philippines President-elect denounced for defending killing of journalists