Extrajudicial killings of drug suspects hit

WHILE he called for an intensified campaign against narcotics, President Rodrigo Duterte has decried the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.

In his speech at the oath-taking of officers of league of cities and provinces, the President called himself a “whipping boy” in the summary execution of suspected drug dependents performed by vigilante group.

“I was the whipping boy [in] all [problems], even in the extrajudicial killing. Who wants to kill a person? We cannot build a nation over the dead bodies of our own citizens,” Duterte said on Wednesday evening.

Duterte made the statement following the rising number of killed individuals suspected of dealing in drugs.

Police reports showed that 194 drug suspects were killed from July 1 to 19 or 10 deaths every day, on a national scale.

The President lamented that drug sale continues to flourish because drug suspects have “protectors” in the country, as well as “high, refined” digital map to locate the areas where they will import drugs.

Earlier, Duterte named five top police officials who are allegedly coddling drug syndicates but all of them have denied the accusation. SUNNEX