“We must give him leeway”, he said.
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“The president also has a duty to prevent further killings, and ensure accountability for those already unlawfully killed”.
He addressed the Senate as part of an ongoing investigation into the massive drug crackdown, which has prompted criticism from the United Nations and human rights organizations, which say the mass execution of suspected drug dealers violates global norms.
However, the policies are not without their critics and this weeks hearings were convened by Senator Leila De Lima, one of the president’s most outspoken critics.
Duterte said, however, that “whether we like it or not, that arbitral judgment will be insisted not only by the Philippines” but by other countries in Southeast Asia, suggesting China should take steps to resolve the territorial issues now while conditions are conducive.
Mr dela Rosa told the inquiry on Tuesday that a total of 1,916 deaths had been recorded during the crackdown, 756 of which were during police operations.
Nearly 1,900 people died in Philippine two months ago during an anti-drug special mission. “So we don’t know who’s doing the killing in that regard”. Since August 21, approximately 10,153 “drug pushers and users” have been arrested.
The rest of the dead were people -narcotics operations, dela Rosa said. CNN could not independently verify the figures the government provided. China has also offered law enforcement equipment to bolster Manila’s drug war.
Over the weekend, Duterte threatened to pull his country out of the United Nations after a UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings said she may visit the country to look into the spike in murders.
Rights groups are condemning Duterte’s violent approach to drug crime.
“He has declared the soaring number of killings of alleged criminal suspects as proof of the “success” of his anti-drug campaign and urged police to ‘seize the momentum, ‘ ” Kine writes on Human Rights Watch’s website.
On Sunday, Duterte casually warned he might withdraw from the United Nations after human rights experts at the global organization criticized his encouragement of extreme vigilante justice against drug traffickers and addicts.
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At the senate hearing, Yasay said the United States will not allow China to reclaim Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcrop near its former US Navy base in the Philippines, because it will impede in the freedom of navigation.
