'PROMOTE LIFE.' Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle denounces all forms of murder, from extrajudicial killings and abortion, as he promotes 'integral life.' File photo by Noli Yamsuan

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle condemned all forms of murder, from slaying drug suspects to aborting babies, as he broke his silence on the recent spate of killings in the Philippines.

Tagle also denounced the illegal drug trade – a way of "murdering" the youth's dreams – in one of his first public messages on the recent extrajudicial killings.

In a conference and interview quoted by Church-run Radyo Veritas on Sunday, August 28, Tagle pushed for the protection of all lives – "buhay ng kahit sino, hindi lamang buhay na gusto nating protektahan" (the lives of anyone, not only the lives we want to protect).

"Basta taong may buhay, kahit sino pa siya, ang buhay na 'yun ay sagrado. Alam ko na ngayon na ang malaking usapin ay ang nagiging mga pagpatay – sabi pati raw sa mga hindi guilty, sa mga inosente – pero kahit nga guilty man o hindi guilty, ang buhay ay dapat alagaan at igalang. At kung guilty, bigyan ng bagong buhay – pagkakataong makabangon mula sa lumang buhay," Tagle said.

(As long as one is alive, whoever he or she is, that life is sacred. I know that the big issue nowadays is the recent spate of killings – which, they say, afflicts even those not guilty, the innocent – but whether a person is guilty or not, life should be cared for and respected. And if a person is guilty, give him new life – the opportunity to rise from his old life.)

Tagle's statement comes as more than 750 people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations while more than a thousand have been slain by shadowy figures. (READ: Duterte offers P2-M bounty for cops into drug trade)

Cardinal hits abortion, too

Tagle told Radyo Veritas, "Ang Diyos ay Diyos ng buhay kaya dapat alagaan ang buhay. Pero marami worried sa extrajudicial killings. At dapat lang."

(God is a God of life so we need to protect life. But many are worried about extrajudicial killings. And rightfully so.)

The cardinal continued: "Sana naman worried din tayo sa abortion. Bakit kaunti ang nagsasalita against abortion? Pagpatay din 'yan. Unfair labor practices – isang uri rin 'yan ng pagpatay ng dangal ng manggagawa."

(I hope we're also worried about abortion. Why are only a few people speaking out against abortion? That's also murder. Unfair labor practices – that's also a form of murder against the dignity of laborers.)

He added, "'Yung tapon tayo ng tapon ng pagkain, kailangan munang nasa basura bago pupulutin ng iba at ipapakain sa pamilya nila, pagpatay din 'yan sa mga batang walang makain."

(Those wasting food, those putting food in the garbage can before others pick it up and feed it to their families, that is also a form of murder against children with nothing to eat.)

Tagle said: "Bantayan natin ang abortion; ang mga batang hindi pa naisisilang ay walang kalaban-laban. Ang pagtitinda ng bawal na gamot, ang pagtulak sa mga kabataan sa bisyo – 'yan ay isang uri din ng pagpatay ng kanilang pangarap, kaisipan, pagpatay ng kanilang magagandang pakikisama sa pamilya."

(Let's guard against abortion; children who haven't been born are helpless. Selling illegal drugs, pushing the youth to go into vices – that's also a form of murder against their dreams, their minds, their good relationships with their families.)

Tagle: Promote 'integral life'

"Be consistent to promote whole or integral life. Let us not be selective," he said.

Tagle, in the past, had been active in other issues involving life. These issues include the Catholic Church's fight against the Reproductive Health Law, a measure that legislates state funding for contraceptives.

Tagle now joins a growing number of religious groups and individuals that have criticized the recent killings in the Philippines:

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, as a whole, has not issued any statement on the killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

The last statement on this from the CBCP was against "vigilantism," issued less than two weeks before Duterte began his term. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com</s>WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will meet controversial Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte next week, the White House said, despite concerns over a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Since taking office two months ago, Duterte has begun making good on an election pledge to kill tens of thousands of suspected criminals, prompting criticism from rights groups who accuse him of inciting vigilante murders.

He has also lashed out at the United Nations and described the US ambassador to Manila as a “son of a whore.”

However, the White House said Obama would meet the firebrand leader on the sidelines of a summit in Laos, which begins on September 6, with the US president likely to voice disquiet over the bloodshed and Duterte’s abusive remarks.

“We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the president of the Philippines,” Obama aide Ben Rhodes told reporters in Washington on Monday.

“We regularly meet with the leaders of our treaty allies where we have differences, whether it relates to human rights practices or derogatory comments. We take the opportunity of those meetings to raise those issues directly.”

Duterte’s war on crime has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs.

Police have reported killing 756 people they have branded drug suspects, although they have insisted they are only acting in self-defense.

The US State Department last week said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of extra judicial killings.

The UN’s special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, also said Duterte’s promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law.

Duterte responded by threatening to quit the United Nations, saying: “If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you.”

He later said his threat to withdraw from the UN was a joke, but continued to repeatedly criticize the international body.

And after garnering more bad headlines overseas for calling the US ambassador “gay” and a “son of a whore,” Duterte refused to apologize.

The Philippines, a former US colony, was regarded as one of the United States’ most loyal allies in Asia until Duterte took office.

The two nations are bound by a mutual defense pact. AFP</s>MANILA, Philippines — On the day he was sworn into office, President Rodrigo Duterte went to a Manila slum and exhorted residents who knew any drug addicts to “go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.”

Two months later, nearly 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users lay dead as morgues continue to fill up. Faced with criticism of his actions by rights activists, international bodies and outspoken Filipinos, including the top judge, Duterte has stuck to his guns and threatened to declare martial law if the Supreme Court meddles in his work.

According to a survey early last month, he has the support of nearly 91 percent of Filipinos. The independent poll was done during his first week in office, and no new surveys have come out since then.

National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing this week that police have recorded more than 1,900 dead, including 756 suspected drug dealers and users who were gunned down after they resisted arrest. More than 1,000 other deaths are under investigation, and some of them may not be drug-related, he said.

Jayeel Cornelio, a doctor of sociology and director of Ateneo de Manila University’s Development Studies Program, said he suspects only a few of Duterte’s supporters are disillusioned by the killings and his rhetoric because voters trust his campaign promise to crush drug criminals. They also find resonance in his cursing and no-holds-barred comments.

Duterte’s death threats against criminals, his promise to battle corruption, his anti-establishment rhetoric and gutter humor have enamored Filipinos living on the margins of society. He overwhelmingly won the election, mirroring public exasperation over the social ills he condemns.

Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has said the killings “may be a necessary evil in the pursuit of a greater good,” a sentiment echoed by a deluge of comments by Duterte supporters in social media deriding his critics and defending the brutal war on drugs.

“The killings are OK so there will be less criminals, drug pushers and drug addicts in our society,” said Rex Alisoso, a 25-year-old cleaner in Manila. He said people have gotten used to the way Duterte talks and voted for him knowing his ways.

Kim Labasan, a Manila shopkeeper, said she does not like Duterte’s constant swearing, his “stepping on too many toes,” and his decision to allow late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery. But she supports the anti-drug war despite the rising death toll because, she said, she has personally seen the effects of drugs. Addicts in her hometown north of Manila have ended up with “poisoned brains” and even robbed her family’s home.

“A battle of moralities is being waged right now by this administration — before, if you were a human rights advocate you are a hero of the country, now you are seen as someone who can destroy the country,” Cornelio said.

He said that Duterte fosters “penal populism” — identifying a particular enemy, a criminal, and then hunting him down to death. Because the results are visible, tangible and people feel it, “it becomes more important than many other things to the ordinary person.”

Duterte has said drugs were destroying the country. In his State of the Nation Address last month, he said “human rights cannot be used as a shield or an excuse to destroy the country.”

He also lashed out at U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, calling him gay in derogatory terms, after he criticized Duterte’s rape comments during the presidential campaign. He threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations because of U.N. comments condemning extrajudicial killings, saying he did not “give a s---” about the consequences. The following day, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the Philippines was not leaving the U.N. and Duterte made the comment only because he was tired, angry and frustrated.

Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, said Duterte “is steamrolling the rule of law and its advocates both at home and abroad.” The killings suggest his aggressive rhetoric advocating extrajudicial solutions to criminality has found a receptive audience, Kine said.

“His supporters are cheering him on, but wait till one of them is killed,” said Ferdie Monasterio, a driver of a ride-sharing company who doesn’t support Duterte. “He is no different from Marcos and it looks like he wants to establish a dictatorship.”

Cornelio said the death toll is not the clincher in turning public sentiment against Duterte, because a lot of people look at them as justified killings. He said that Dutere’s first year will be crucial since he promised quick action.

“I think the threshold has to do with the delivery of the promises,” he said.</s>Duterte takes war on drugs to the stage

MANILA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Philippine police, heavily criticised by rights groups for killing hundreds of drug dealers and users, are using a comedy puppet of Rodrigo Duterte to get the president's war on drugs message across to Manila school children.

The Philippine National Police began the show, which also features a puppet of police chief Ronald dela Rosa, in Manila schools this month, the latest step in the anti-drug drive of Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", who won the presidency in May based on a platform of wiping out narcotics.

"I hate drugs, don't do drugs because you are the hope of the country," the Duterte puppet told children at an impoverished community near a large landfill in Manila.

Police have also employed a smiling, dancing mascot that looks like dela Rosa to spread the message at other youth events in the Filipino capital, with a comic book also commissioned to encourage children to stay away from drugs.

"This is part of our programme to convince and maintain the safety of our people, especially those who have not been subjected to vices," Remigio Sedanto, the police community relations chief, said of the drive.

More than 1,900 people have been killed, according to police figures, in the anti-drug drive since Duterte came to power with the president saying there would be no let up in the fight during a National Heroes Day speech on Monday.

Students from Manila theatre group U.P. Repertory are also using theatre to show their objection to Duterte's approach by re-enacting the death of a local college student, who they said was gunned down by police in one of their drug operations.

Participants were blindfolded and seated inside a dimply lit room to simulate what happens inside a drug den, while actors hit items on the ground to mimic gunshots.

"We want to show what is really happening to the youth, to those who are affected by these killings under the new president," said Gio Potes, the show's head writer.

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said last week it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of extra-judicial drug killings and it urged Duterte's government to ensure that law-enforcement efforts "comply with its human rights obligation". (Reporting by Peter Blaza and Ronn Bautista; Writing by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>MANILA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday promised rewards running to tens of thousands of dollars for information leading to the capture of police officers protecting drug syndicates and warned corrupt officials they would face "a day of reckoning".

In a National Heroes Day speech, Duterte said there would be no let-up in a "war on drugs" in which - according to police figures - more than 1,900 people have been killed since he came to power two months ago.

Police say the toll of about 36 people a day is a result of drug dealers resisting arrest or gang feuds.

Duterte railed against critics who have complained that the poor who trade drugs to make a living are being targeted by the police, but added that army generals, city mayors, governors and police involved in the drug trade must also be stopped.

"I consider the fight against drugs a war, there is a crisis in this country, it is drugs ... it has infected every nook and corner," he said in the speech to retired and serving soldiers, government officials and foreign diplomats.

Singling out corrupt policemen known as "ninjas", who take pay-offs from drug lords, Duterte said he was placing a 2 million peso ($43,000) bounty on their heads, telling their colleagues to "squeal on your friends".

Duterte, who won a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers, last month named about 160 officials, judges, police and soldiers who he said were protecting drug traffickers or selling drugs in their communities.

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said last week it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of extra-judicial drug killings and it urged Duterte's government to ensure that law-enforcement efforts "comply with its human rights obligation".

The crackdown and some strongly worded criticism Duterte has made of the United States since coming to power present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

This month, two U.N. human rights experts urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings. Duterte responded by threatening to leave the United Nations.

In his speech on Monday Duterte scoffed at accusations that he was trampling on human rights and said law enforcers should not worry about criminal liability while acting on his campaign.

In the early hours of Monday a suspected drug lord and his wife were shot dead by a gunman as they stepped off a ferry in the central province of Iloilo, national police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said.

Police said the man, Melvin Odicta who was also known as "Dragon", was returning from Manila where last week he had met the interior minister to deny accusations that he was the region's top drug dealer.

National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa said on Friday he did not believe Odicta, telling officers: "Who are they fooling?"

In a speech to thousands of drug users and pushers the previous day, dela Rosa encouraged them to kill drug lords because they were getting rich at the expense of the poor.

"You want to kill them, then kill them, you can kill them because you are their victims here. You know who are the drug lords here, go to their houses, pour gasoline, set it on fire, show them you are angry at them."

He later apologised for the comments. (Reporting by Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Robert Birsel)</s>Addict risks everything in Duterte’s drug war – ‘It’s scary because I could be next’

MANILA: Pedicab driver Reyjin dives into a neighbor’s house for a quick meth fix, fearful of taking a bullet to the head in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs but unable to quit. More than 2,000 people have died violent deaths since Duterte took office two months ago and immediately implemented his scorched-earth plans to eradicate drugs in society, ordering police to shoot dead traffickers and urging ordinary citizens to kill addicts.

The bloodbath has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are roaming through communities and shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs. Armed police constantly circle in Reyjin’s Manila slum community, but he continues to snort the fumes of the highly addictive methamphetamine known as “shabu” that Duterte has warned is destroying the lives of millions of poor Filipinos. “It’s scary because I could be next,” said the gaunt, gap-toothed 28-year-old, speaking to AFP on the condition his identity not be revealed for security reasons.

The father-of-three said two masked motorcycle gunmen riding in tandem on a motorcycle had shot dead a woman who sold small amounts of drugs to him and other residents. “She was sitting in the alley when she took two bullets to the head,” he said. Such riding-in-tandem murders are one of the most common forms of killings by the shadowy assassins.

Often a piece of cardboard, with “drug peddler” or “drug addict” written on it, is placed on the corpse. This has led to the war on crime becoming known as “cardboard justice”. Meanwhile, police have reported killing 756 people they have branded drug suspects. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa has repeatedly defended his officers, insisting they only kill when their own lives are in danger. However two policemen have been charged with murder over the jailhouse deaths of a father and son, who autopsies showed to have been beaten so badly before being shot that their limbs were broken.

The United Nations, the US government and human rights groups have expressed alarm at the bloodshed, with some critics warning the Philippines is in the midst of a reign of terror as authorities act with no regard for the law. Duterte and Dela Rosa have repeatedly insisted they are acting within the boundaries of the law, while accusing their critics of siding with the drug traffickers and ignoring the devastating consequences of what they describe as a national shabu crisis. They say most of the unexplained deaths are being carried out by drug syndicates waging war on each other.

Yet on the day he was sworn into office, Duterte gave a speech to a crowd in a Manila slum in which he called on them to kill drug addicts in their own community. And in an address to a group of drug addicts who had surrendered to police last week, Dela Rosa called on them to kill their suppliers and burn down their homes. Dela Rosa later apologized for the comments, saying they were made because he was angry, but they nevertheless added to an atmosphere of a dramatic breakdown in the rule of law.

In Reyjin’s Manila slum, the violence and security presence has slowed the drug trade and made shabu more expensive. But lots is still available, in what could be a worrying sign for Duterte who vowed during the election campaign that he could completely wipe out the trade within six months. “If you want to buy, you just go stand there on the street and somebody will approach you,” said Reyjin, who took his first hit of shabu when he was 13. “You hand over the money and he will tell you to wait and have somebody else deliver the drugs to you.”

Even the shabu “dens”, in which people rent out their huts for addicts to take a hit, are still operating, according to Reyjin. Reyjin said he earned about 400 pesos ($8.50) a day, taking passengers on short pedicab trips and occasionally doing odd jobs. He said he was spending about one quarter of his earnings on shabu. It used to be a 50-peso-a-day habit, but the price of shabu had doubled because of the drug war, according to Reyjin.

Neighbors told AFP the eldest of Reyjin’s three children, a grade-schooler, looked malnourished and often went to school hungry. The two other siblings looked dirty and were forced to wear hand-me-down clothes in their one-room house, they added. The neighbors said they also suspected him of stealing small items from their homes to fund his habit. Reyjin said he was aware of the toll his habit took on his family. But, even compounded by the threat of his children being orphaned in the drug war, he said he could not stop taking shabu. “Sometime I tell myself I have to stop,” he said. “But my body craves it.” – AFP</s>MANILA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Rodrigo Duterte became president two months ago on a pledge to wipe out the illegal drug trade, has reached around 2,000, according to data released on Tuesday.

There has been popular support for his campaign, but the wave of killings unleashed since his election victory has alarmed rights groups and brought expressions of concern from the United States, a close ally of Manila.

As officials readied a publicity campaign to explain his fight against on narcotics, the Philippine National Police said that close to 900 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations from July 1 to August 20. That was an increase of 141 people over a week, on average 20 people a day.

Last week the police said 1,100 other drug-related killings that were not classified as police operations were also being investigated. No new number for that category was given on Tuesday but, together with the new figure for police encounters, the total came to around 2,000.

Duterte won the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation in a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs.

Two U.N. human rights experts recently urged the Philippines to stop extra-judicial killings, drawing a furious response from Duterte, who threatened to pull h is country out of the United Nations. His foreign minister later rowed back on the threat.

Duterte's communications secretary, Martin Andanar, said on Monday that a 30-second advertisement explaining the anti-drug campaign would be aired over the next week by commercial and public TV stations and by movie theatres.

"The government is not spending a single centavo on these ads and TV stations are carrying them for free," Andanar told reporters at an event in a Manila hotel.

He said his office would also publish a 40-page pamphlet to explain the rising body count. This would be issued on the president's first trip abroad next week, first to Brunei and then to an East Asia summit in Laos.

"Some people abroad have to understand why many people are getting killed in the anti-drug campaign. They must understand, this is a war and there are casualties," Andanar said.

"The pamphlet will inform and explain that the government was not killing people at random, that these killings are not extrajudicial in nature but as part of the anti-crime campaign. Some of those killed were police officers who are involved in criminal activities."

The White House said on Monday that U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to meet Duterte in Laos on Sept. 6, and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns.

Duterte's crackdown on drugs and some strongly worded criticism he has made of the United States present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

There have been few signs in the Philippines itself of a backlash against the war on drugs.

However, on Tuesday a newly formed group called the "Stop the Killings Network" announced a #Lightforlife campaign that would start with simultaneous candle-lighting events on Wednesday evening at six venues across Manila.
The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle condemns the extralegal killings and murders under Rodrigo Duterte.