Today: Friday, 6 December 2024 year

Duterte’s war on drugs took more than 5,000 lives during last year

Duterte’s war on drugs took more than 5,000 lives during last year

Rodrigo Duterte’s approach has earned him condemnation from around the world – the death toll in this war on drugs is horrifying. It took more than 5,000 lives during last year, according to the police reports.

The only one supporter of Duterte’s war on drugs was the US President Donald Trump, who called to praise his efforts to tackle the Philippines’ drug problem shortly after he was elected. The local population is tired from the endless shotguns and police raids resulted in many deaths every week.

More than 5,000 people have died in a bloody drugs crackdown that started with the election of Rodrigo Duterte – these are figures for only last year. After President gave police officers licence to shoot drug pushers as they saw fit, and actively encouraged civilians to execute dealers and addicts living among them, the wave of violence became almost uncontrolled.

Duterte has told police to shoot drug dealers on sight, and encouraged members of the public to execute known drug users and pushers living among them. His critics accuse him of unleashing death squads in what may constitute a crime against humanity (pictured, the body of an unknown man in Quezon city, north of Manila)

Duterte: war on drugs is going on, death toll is rising

Critics accuse President Duterte of unleashing vigilante death squads who are killing with impunity and without justification in what may constitute a crime against humanity. At the same time, the 72-year-old leader has just ended his first 12 months in office with a 75 percent satisfaction rating. Probably, the local population is tired of drug dealer more than of President’s cruel measures.

The coffin of Leah Espiritu is carried out for her burial. While Duterte has claimed that almost 4million people in the Philippines are drug addicts, his own drug analysis unit says the real number could be half that - and would not be much higher than the global average

Rodrigo Duterte has also won the admiration of US President Donald Trump, who called to congratulate him on his efforts to fix the drug problem while pledging to help tame unruly neighbour North Korea.