Duterte 'normalized act of extrajudicial killing'
MANILA, Philippines – A recent report by international human rights watchdog Front Line Defenders said President Rodrigo Duterte "normalized the act of extrajudicial killing in his war on drugs" – a campaign which has already seen over 6,200 deaths in the Philippines in the last 6 months.
​
"In the Philippines – which already ranks as the most dangerous country in Asia for [human rights defenders] – President Rodrigo Duterte normalized the act of extrajudicial killing in his war on drugs, lowering the political cost of murder and thus raising the risk to defenders whose work threatens powerful interests," the Front Line Defenders said in its Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk in 2016.
​
The report released this week said that at least 31 human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Philippines were murdered in 2016. The group also reported 31 deaths in 2015.
​
"By calling for the extrajudicial killing of those involved in the drug trade, President Duterte has helped create an environment where murder is being promoted as an acceptable method of dealing with certain problems," the report read.
​
Duterte, however, often says contradictory things about his policy on drug personalities. In December, he denied allegations that killings being linked to his war on drugs are state-sponsored. (READ: Duterte: We will investigate mysterious killings)
Duterte on extrajudicial killings: Better for criminals to kill each other
- MANILA, Philippines – Asked about the rise of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte shrugged off the phenomenon, saying it's the result of criminals killing off other criminals.
​
"You add more intrigues and then they kill each other, better. Criminals kill criminals,
that is not my worry," said Duterte on Friday, September 2, during a press conference in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
​
The President said this purging of criminals by other criminals is the reaction of crime or drug syndicates to the "intrigue" begun by his "war on drugs," which involves public naming of alleged drug suspects before any court process.
​
"It is the extrajudicial killing of people getting rid of the criminals by their own hands," said Duterte.
He added that he "cannot control the criminal minds" if they decide to murder one another.
​
However, there have been incidents that appear to be drug-related where individuals, like a 5-year-old girl and college students, with no criminal record die.
​
Duterte previously said he claims full responsibility for deaths that occur during anti-drugs police operations but not the extrajudicial killings
​
​
'Out of character' for Duterte to order killings, says aide
- MANILA – Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Monday called the testimony of self-confessed Davao Death Squad hitman Arturo Lascañas a "fabrication.”
In a statement, Panelo said it is “out of character for the President to order the killing of a woman, pregnant or not, and for that matter any person.”
​
“He is outraged by any extra-judicial killing. Neither will he tolerate it. He abhors any violation of the Constitution or any law. Anything he does as President is pursuant to the constitutional duty of serving and protecting the people imposed on him by the basic charter,” he added.
​
Lascañas faced the Senate on Monday, over four months since denying the existence of the death squad in a previous Senate hearing. He detailed his participation in several killings which he said were ordered by longtime Davao City Mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte.
​
During the hearing, Lascañas said he had personally killed 300 people, about 200 as a member of a "Davao death squad", with his last in 2015. He also detailed two cases where he had murdered critics of Duterte, under the instruction of the then-mayor's bodyguard.