Philippine officials shrug at surge in drug killings
Philippine officials shrug at surge in drug killings
Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, provides cold comfort for Filipinos aghast at the surge in police killings of suspected drug dealers and drug users since President Roderigo Duterte took office on June 30.
Dela Rosa, on July 11, slammed calls for a Senate probe of those killings as “legal harassment” and said it “dampens the morale” of Philippine National Police personnel. Dela Rosa’s dismissal of concerns about the rising police killing body count of suspected drug dealers and users should come as no surprise with those familiar with the speech he made on July 2, when he warned that police officers linked to drug dealers should “surrender in 48 hours or die.”
Statements from other law enforcement officials in the Duterte administration show similar disdain for basic rights. Solicitor General Jose Calida, on July 11, defended the legality of the killings, saying that the number of such deaths were “not enough.”The police have admitted killing several dozen suspected drug dealers and users in the first four days after President Roderigo Duterte assumed office. The Philippine Daily Inquirer is publishing a daily “kill list” and has tallied 72 police killings from June 30 to July 7 and an additional 35 such killings over the weekend of July 9-10. Police have attributed the killings to suspects who “resisted arrest and shot at police officers,” but have not provided further evidence that they acted in self-defense. That death toll compares with police statistics that indicate a total of 68 police killings of alleged illegal drug suspects from January 1 to June 15, 2016.
The police have admitted killing several dozen suspected drug dealers and users in the first four days after President Roderigo Duterte assumed office. The Philippine Daily Inquirer is publishing a daily “kill list” and has tallied 72 police killings from June 30 to July 7 and an additional 35 such killings over the weekend of July 9-10. Police have attributed the killings to suspects who “resisted arrest and shot at police officers,” but have not provided further evidence that they acted in self-defense. That death toll compares with police statistics that indicate a total of 68 police killings of alleged illegal drug suspects from January 1 to June 15, 2016.
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