{UAH} Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte suspends 'war on drugs'

Robert Atuhairew,

As I predicted, Mr Duterete has decided to end his war on drugs. It is a war he was never going to win. With nearly 10,000 people killed in just three months, there is no sign that he has even dented in even the edges of the drugs industry. All that has happnned is that he has given the police impunity to murder at will. His short stay in power has brutalised the country so badly- 3 months of unceasing violence and murder have shocked the nation. It became even more macabre when the police abducted the Korean businessman and strangled him in the HQ of the police itself and then went on to claim ransom from his widow. He had to stop. Duterete had no choice. No country in the world has sought to elimintae the drugs cancer using violence. It is a major U TURN for Dueterte, but it is better to swallow a bitter pill than to continue a senseless state sponsored  policy of murder and bloodshed

Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte suspends 'war on drugs' so he can hunt down corrupt police officers instead 

In this Oct. 26, 2016, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo.

 

The Philippine police are to suspend their controversial war on drugs until "corrupt" officers can be rooted out, the chief of the force said on Monday, following the killing of a South Korean businessman.

More than 7,000 people have been killed, including about 2000 in police operations, since a nationwide crackdown on drugs was instigated by President Rodrigo Duterte when he swept to power in June.

But after the kidnap and strangulation of Jee Ick-joo last October, in the grounds of the police headquarters by rogue officers of the anti-drug squad, Duterte said he was "embarrassed" and apologised. He accused the police of being "corrupt to the core."

Watch | Duterte threatens to throw corrupt officials from helicopter - as he has 'done before'

00:37

His police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, has faced pressure to resign, but instead he said that anti-drugs units would be temporarily dissolved, to rid them of "scalawags".

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"We will cleanse our ranks..then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs. The president told us to clean the organisation first," said Dela Rosa.

"I don't know how long it will take to cleanse the PNP [Philippines National Police]. But with each and every one of us cooperating, helping each other, maybe in a month we can do it."

Duterte has come under growing international criticism for the brutality of the war on drugs. After entering office saying he would "be happy to slaughter" millions of Fillipino drug users and peddlers, he has been accused of instigating a wave of uncontrolled violence.

Thousands of victims, from among the Philippines' poorest classes, have been murdered by unidentified hit squads. Many of the masked assassins are believed to be linked to the police, a charge the force strongly denies.

Watch | Rodrigo Duterte tells Barack Obama to "go to hell"

00:26

The murder of the South Korean prompted Duterte's most outspoken critic, Senator Leila de Lima to call for the president and police chief to "categorically give the order to end the killings."

The dismantling of the anti-drugs unit meant "they are aware that the very men involved in anti-drugs operations…are involved in illegal activities under the guise of the so-called war on drugs," she told a local TV channel.

But the war on drugs, a key pledge of President Duterte during his election campaign, is unlikely to come to a halt.

Duterte vowed only on Sunday to forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term in 2020, which suggests that he may revive it once the fuss about the murdered South Korean dies down.

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