“While we believe and support President Duterte’s war on drugs, there is a need for deeper analysis as to why the drug problem is thriving and who benefits from this”, the bishops said in an August 22 statement.
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Dela Rosa was also grilled by Senator Antonio Trillanes about the police department’s response to the 1,160 drug-related killings, many of which have been attributed to vigilantes, which have occurred since the beginning of July. He is also on record saying he will not charge police officers who kill drug dealers in the line of duty.
National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa gave the Philippine Senate a figure that deduced that the nation experienced around 36 deaths per day, resulting to a total of 1,900 deaths. However, he did not divulge further details.
However, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said Monday that the Philippines has no plans to break away from the United Nations, the AP reported.
The Philippines government said on Wednesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador earlier this week to explain reports that traffickers were bringing in narcotics from China, opening a new front in President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.
The President said the Philippine government will have to find the best way “to defend our country”.
He said, “We continue to make clear to the Philippines government. our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship”. Not all the killings were drug-related, he said. In one instance, Duterte threatened a suspected Chinese drug lord with death right at Manila’s airport if he returned to the country.
At a press conference held in Manila Tuesday, Duterte said he would rather conduct diplomatic talks with China over sovereignty issues in the South China Sea than take an aggressive position that would infuriate Beijing and jeopardize the chance of possible talks.
His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay Jr., said Monday the Philippines would remain a United Nations member and described the president’s comments as expressions of “profound disappointment and frustration”.
“Because whether we like it or not, that arbitral judgement would be insisted (on) not only by the Philippines but by the whole countries here in Southeast Asia”, he said.
“Unless proven otherwise, I presume that my men are performing their duties properly”, he said, referring to the ongoing so-called “double barrel” police campaign against drugs. “The UN as a public institutions should have made formal representations because we also are a formal institution”, Abella said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the “shocking human toll” and accused Duterte of inciting violence and “steamrolling the rule of law”. “The police will ensure enforce the full force of the law against them”.
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The police officers accused of killing Besorio’s husband and father have been charged with murder, according to the AP.
