The Philippine government is “plumbing new depths of barbarity” after President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called “drug war” reached its highest single-day death toll this week, human rights group Amnesty International (AI) said on Thursday, August 17.
Thirty-two alleged drug offenders were killed at the province-wide “one time, big time” simultaneous bloody raids in Bulacan on Wednesday, August 16, bringing the highest number of fatalities in a single day since Duterte launched his unrelentless anti-illegal drugs campaign last year.
James Gomez, Al’s director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that the deaths proved that Duterte’s “lawless” drug war “continues unabated and actually appears to be plumbing new depths of barbarity.”
“No one is bearing the brunt of this brutality more than the poorest communities in areas such as Bulacan province, a hotspot for extrajudicial executions since the president took power, and the scene of 21 of yesterday’s 32 killings,” he added.
AI also expressed concern over Duterte’s recent admission that the drug menace in the country cannot be fixed by a president in a single term.
The president initially vowed to solve the drug problem in the country within the first three to six months of his term but later acknowledged the need for extension.
“Duterte‘s recent statement that he might not be able to solve the Philippines’ drug-related problems during his current term are very concerning. With the indefinite extension of this failed strategy there is seemingly no end in sight to these killings,” Gomez said.
He added that human rights in the Philippines appears to be in “more peril than at any point since the president’s bloody reign began,” citing Duterte’s threat abolish to country’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR) last month.
“This shows clearly that there should be no further delay in establishing an internationally led investigation into the ‘war on drugs’ and the carnage currently taking place in the Philippines on a daily basis,” Gomez said.
Malacañang earlier clarified that the CHR cannot be abolished as it is a constitutional commission, dismissing the president’s remark as a “joke.”
In a speech on Wednesday, Duterte, however, expressed his plans to investigate its officials instead for allegedly “conspiring” with criminals.
He added that security forces should shoot CHR personnels if they are committing “obstruction of justice.”
“One of these days, kayong human rights, kayong imbestigahan ko (I will investigate you CHR). [for] Conspiracy. If they are obstructing justice, you shoot them,” the president said during the 19th anniversary of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
The president further showered praises at bloody raid in Bulacan that occurred earlier in the day, saying he is expecting human rights advocates to criticize the raid.
“Yung namatay daw sa Bulacan kanina, 32 (Thirty two people died in Bulacan earlier) in a massive raid. Maganda yun (That’s good). Pumatay tayo (Let’s kill) another 32 everyday, maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” Duterte remarked.
In a separate statement, New-York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Duterte should immediately withdraw his statement or he may face investigation for possibly instigating or inciting violence against Philippine human rights advocates.
“President Duterte’s threats against human rights activists is like painting a target on the backs of courageous people working to protect the rights and upholding the dignity of all Filipinos,” HRW Asia Deputy Director Phelim Kine said.
Kine continued, “Duterte should retract his reprehensible remarks immediately before there is more blood on his hands.”
