Philippine cop jailed in rare drug war conviction

A Philippine police officer has been jailed for torturing two teenagers killed at the height of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, court documents show, in a rare conviction of an enforcer of the crackdown. During his sixyear term, which ended in June, Duterte openly ordered police to shoot dead drug suspects if officers’ lives were in danger. More than 6,200 people died in his anti-drug campaign, according to official figures. A Manila court found earlier this month that police officers Jefrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita tortured two teenagers in 2017. The officers also planted a weapon and drugs on one of the victims. The teens — Reynaldo De Guzman, 14, and Carl Arnaiz, 19 — were later killed by the same officers, the court said. Perez was jailed for life for planting evidence and given a minimum sentence of 20 years for torture, according to the court ruling, which was released on Wednesday. Arquilita died during the trial. — afp