President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, was supported by many of Philippines top diplomats; “who were killed during police operations were criminal drug dealers”. Reports claiming that some deaths of individuals during the drug war are supecious and not investigated. Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Cayetano denied them all;”it is not true”. Cayetano added that “every single one of them is being investigated”. Question:”all the victims of the police’s anti-drug operations were criminal drug dealers?” Cayetano said: “Yes”.
Some killed were not drug dealers:
Actually there some documented reports and informations that some cases of killed individuals who were really not involved in drugs; as per some police and media documentations. Many incidents reported where victimes were not drug dealers. Example; that 17-year-old high school student – Kian Loyd delos Santos – was shot killed by police in Aug 2017. Police officers forced the teen to hold a gun, fire and run as some witnesses said. The student’ close relatives and friends said he was not a drug dealer or even a drug user. Also in September 2016, while the police tried to fire a man, the man’s four-year-old daughter was killed on the Philippine island of Negros. Famile members denied that the suspect was by any way a drug dealer. In another incident, a man, who had been shot by police for allegedly selling drugs, told Al Jazeera that the evidence against him was planted.
Intense backlash for the drug war:
The Philippines’ drug war, which was launched by the Duterte administration in mid-2016, has received intense backlash from the Catholic Church, human rights groups, and the international community. Since Duterte took office, more than 13,000 people have been killed in the war on drugs, according to activists.