Manila
Officers convicted: A Philippine court sentenced three police officers to 40 years in prison each last week for the 2017 murder of a 17-yearold boy, the first such convictions for killings explicitly encouraged by President Rodrigo Duterte as part of his war on drugs. Nearly 5,000 people are thought to have been murdered by the police, and many more by unofficial militias, since Duterte came to office in 2016 telling citizens and police to “go ahead and kill” drug users and dealers. Officers routinely claim their victims pulled guns and resisted arrest. But in the slaying of teenager Kian Lloyd delos Santos, surveillance camera footage and forensic evidence proved they were lying. Human rights activists aren’t celebrating the convictions yet: Duterte has promised to pardon any officer convicted of murder during the crackdown.