Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has ordered police to escalate his war on illegal drugs. “Double your efforts. Triple them if need be,” he said. “We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or been put behind bars… or below ground if you wish,” he said.
Police have been door knocking on almost 130,000 homes of suspected drug dealers urging them to turn themselves in voluntarily. In their search for drug dealers and users, almost 300 people across the island nation have died since the start of his term at the beginning of July. This does not include those killed in extrajudicial killings by vigilantes. There have been many reports of accused drug users and pushers being executed and left on streets with cardboard signs allegedly “admitting” their guilt.
Mr. Duterte told the parliament in his first state of the nation address, that drugs were drowning his country and human rights were no excuse to shield criminals. He told parliament that 120,000 people had surrendered to police in the past month and 70,000 were drug pushers. Police have also arrested 3,749 suspects with links to drugs as of July 24.
Mr. Duterte, 71, was swept into power at elections in May after pledging to wipe out crime with the same “shoot-to-kill” methods critics say he used as the long-time mayor of the southern city of Davao.
In addition, Mr. Duterte has vowed to pardon police who would likely be charged with human rights violations for perpetrating his relentless crackdown.
“I will retire with the reputation of Idi Amin,” he said in a recent speech, referring to the late Ugandan ruler whose 1970s regime was responsible for large-scale rights abuses. “I will not let my country go to the dogs,” he added, saying that he would use military bases as drug rehabilitation centres.
“Police plan to erect a large billboard outside the force’s Manila headquarters to show a daily tally of drug suspects who have been arrested or killed during operations.”
But vigilantes are also killing suspected drug pushers and then leaving cardboard signs on them “admitting guilt.” This has human rights groups concerned.
The United Nations has called on Mr. Duterte to end the killings. “The number of killings of suspected drug traffickers by police and others reported almost daily since the May 9 election is shocking,” he tweeted. Catholic Bishops have also denounced the crackdown. “Can we correct evil by doing evil?” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo asked in a mass.
“As long as President Duterte turns a blind eye to – or implicitly or explicitly encourages – summary killings, the fundamental right to life of all Filipinos is at risk from potentially random extrajudicial violence,” said Phelim Kine, deputy director for Human Rights Watch in Asia.
The rule of law is being overtaken by the rule of the mob in the Philippines. While extra-judicial killings are quite unconventional, 63 percent of Filipinos think Duterte will fulfill his promises to clean up illegal drugs and crime in the nation.
Imagine what might happen when people demand the death penalty for violating the universal Sunday laws.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the best should be killed.” Revelation 13:15.