MANILA — After President Rodrigo Duterte publicly named him as a drug suspect last summer, the mayor of a small Philippine town said he was not worried.

“If you are not guilty, why should you be afraid?” the mayor, Samsudin Dimaukom, told The New York Times in August.

On Friday, he and nine other men were shot dead at a highway police checkpoint, in what the police described as an antidrug operation.

Mr. Dimaukom and his companions are among about 2,000 people who have been killed in Mr. Duterte’s campaign against drugs since he took office on June 30.</s>KORONADAL, Philippines — A Philippine town mayor who was publicly identified by President Rodrigo Duterte as a drug trafficking suspect was gunned down Friday with nine of his men at a police checkpoint, in one of the bloodiest operations since the crackdown was launched.

Little over a month after he took office on a promise to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs, Duterte in August read out the names of more than 150 officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs, among them Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan township in southern Maguindanao province.

The mayor had turned himself in to police and denied he was involved in the illegal drug trade. He had told the media that he was fighting illegal drugs himself and supported Duterte’s crackdown.

At dawn Friday, Dimaukom and the nine others were killed they opened fire from three cars on officers at a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province, Superintendent Bernard Tayong said.

“It was a legitimate anti-drug operation but the subjects opened fire on our troops,” regional police official Superintendent Romeo Galgo Jr. told reporters.

Police said they had received information that Dimaukom’s group was planning to transport a “huge” amount of methamphetamine — a prohibited and extremely addictive stimulant drug locally known as shabu — from Davao city, Duterte’s hometown, to Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.

Police estimate more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. The crackdown has drawn international concern over extrajudicial killings, but Duterte has repeatedly dismissed criticism and vowed to keep his election promise to rid the country of drugs.

Arriving from a state visit to Japan late Thursday, Duterte appeared to issue another warning, saying that thousands of drug suspects may end up dead. He expressed disgust over criticism leveled against him while he battles a drug menace that he said has left many of police officers dead.

“And to say that I should behave and keep on harping on that … I’ll tell you I will triple it,” Duterte said. “If my wishes aren’t followed …you can expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more.”

“There is a war going on, I am losing two, three policemen a day. It’s a war, how could it be a … genocide, killing a helpless person there, kneeling,” he said. “There’s none of that, we do not gather children and young men and shoot them.”</s>Two months ago, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte publicly read out the names of a town mayor and more than 150 other officials he accused of involvement in drug trafficking. On Friday, the mayor and nine of his men were killed in a clash with police, in the deadliest operation in Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown.

Police estimate that more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30.

After his name was read out in August, Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan township in southern Maguindanao province turned himself in to police and denied involvement. He told the media he was fighting illegal drugs himself and supported Duterte’s crackdown.

Dimaukom and the nine others were killed at dawn Friday after they opened fire from a van and an SUV on officers manning a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province, police Superintendent Bernard Tayong said.

“Our men were forced to retaliate when the heavily armed suspects who were on board two vehicles began firing at them,” said Senior Superintendent Albert Ignatius Ferro, who heads a police anti-illegal drugs force.

Police found an M16 rifle, four pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition and at least 13 small plastic packs of suspected methamphetamine, a stimulant drug locally known as shabu, from the bullet-peppered vehicles of the suspects, police deputy regional chief Senior Superintendent Leonardo Suan said.

Police said they had received information that Dimaukom’s group was planning to transport a “huge” amount of methamphetamine from Davao city, Duterte’s hometown, to Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.

Duterte’s crackdown has drawn international concern over extrajudicial killings, but he has repeatedly dismissed criticisms and vowed to keep his election promise to rid the country of illegal drugs. He originally said he would do so in six months, but extended that deadline by half a year, saying he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the drug menace.

The extent of Duterte’s crackdown is unprecedented in the country. Since he took office, police have arrested more than 31,600 drug suspects, and more than 750,000 people, mostly drug users, have surrendered to authorities, largely due to fears they could end up dead. Police have visited more than 2.6 million homes to urge suspected drug users and dealers to stop.

On Wednesday, police launched a new phase of the crackdown called Double Barrel, which they say will focus on “high-value targets” such as drug lords and those involved in largescale drug production and trafficking.

Duterte said late Thursday he still has a long list of drug suspects including politicians, village officials, judges and policemen, showing a thick pile of documents. “This is the drug industry in the Philippines,” Duterte said. “I can’t deal with this alone,” he said, appealing to the public for help.

He appeared to issue another warning, saying that thousands more drug suspects may end up dead. He expressed disgust over criticism levelled against him while he battles a drug menace that he said has left many police officers dead.

“And to say that I should behave and keep on harping on that ... I’ll tell you I will triple it,” Duterte said. “If my wishes aren’t followed ... you can expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more.”

“There is a war going on, I am losing two, three policemen a day. It’s a war, how could it be ... genocide, killing a helpless person there, kneeling,” he said. “There’s none of that, we do not gather children and young men and shoot them.”</s>KORONADAL, Philippines (AP) — Philippine anti-narcotics officers gunned down a town mayor and nine of his men in a clash Friday in one of the bloodiest operations since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a crackdown on illegal drugs.

Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, who was killed with the nine others, has been publicly named by Duterte among many politicians he accused of involvement in illegal drugs as part of a shame campaign.

In August, Duterte read out the names of more than 150 officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs. He ordered them to surrender to authorities immediately or be hunted down. The mayor had turned himself in to police and denied he was involved in the illegal drug trade. He had told the media that he was fighting illegal drugs himself and supported Duterte’s crackdown.

“It was a legitimate anti-drug operation but the subjects opened fire on our troops,” regional police official Superintendent Romeo Galgo Jr. told reporters.

They were killed before dawn when they opened fire from three cars on officers at a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province, another officer, Superintendent Bernard Tayong, said.

Ahead of the deadly firefight, police received information that Dimaukom’s group was planning to transport a “huge” amount of methamphetamine — a prohibited and extremely addictive stimulant drug locally known as shabu — from Davao city, Duterte’s hometown, to Maguindanao province, where Datu Saudi Ampatuan town is located.

Police estimate more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. The crackdown has drawn international concern over extrajudicial killings, but Duterte has repeatedly dismissed criticism and vowed to keep his election promise to rid the country of drugs.

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.</s>The mayor was accused of drug-trafficking.

A Philippine mayor accused of drug trafficking was killed along with nine bodyguards in a shoot-out with police on Friday, authorities said, hours after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to intensify his crackdown on crime.

Samsudin Dimaukom, the mayor of the southern town of Saudi Ampatuan, was one of the more than 150 local government officials, judges and police identified by Mr. Duterte earlier this year as being involved in the illegal drug trade.

The deadly crime war has claimed more than 3,800 lives and drawn criticism from the United States, the United Nations and international rights groups who have accused the police of summarily executing suspects.

Police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo said that Dimaukom and his security personnel opened fire after anti-narcotics police stopped their vehicles at a checkpoint on suspicion they were transporting illegal drugs.

Officers returned fire, killing the men in the town of Makilala, about 950 kilometres south of the capital Manila.

“Suspects [were] heavily armed and fired upon the law enforcers, which prompted them to fire back,” Mr. Galgo said.

Dimaukom made a name for himself by funding the construction of a pink mosque in Saudi Ampatuan in a plea for peace in the town which has been wracked by violence.

Muslim rebels have been waging a separatist insurgency in the southern Philippines for decades.

Mr. Duterte, who swept to power in May elections on a pledge to eradicate drugs, has described his critics as “fools” and has said he is not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals.

After returning from a trip to Japan late Thursday, he threatened to step up police killings of drug suspects.

“If my wish to get rid [of illegal drugs] in my country is not granted, you can expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more. There is a war going on,” he said.</s>KORONADAL, Philippines — Philippine police say a town mayor and nine of his men have been killed in a gunbattle with anti-narcotics officers in one of the deadliest operations since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a crackdown on illegal drugs.

Police say Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of southern of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town and nine others were killed before dawn Friday when they opened fire from three cars on officers at a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province.

According to Superintendent Bernard Tayong, Dimaukom has been named by Duterte as among many politicians suspected to be involved in illegal drugs.

Police estimate more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. The crackdown has drawn international concern over extrajudicial killings.</s>Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, a Muslim autonomous area of Mindanao, was shot along with a number of his bodyguards while allegedly transporting illegal drugs.

The report states that police had set up a highway roadblock aimed at apprehending the mayor based on a tip.

He, along with his wife, surrendered themselves to provincial police in August to clear their names and deny involvement.

At the roadblock early Friday morning, an "armed encounter" between Dimaukom's men and police ensued, the report says, with law enforcement officials responding to fire from the mayor's bodyguards, leaving 10 men dead. Duterte was elected to office in May on a platform of a hardline crackdown on crime, particularly illegal drugs. Since taking office in early June, his police force has waged a bloody war on drug dealers and users, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Filipino drug suspects at the hands of police. Hundreds more have been killed by vigilantes. Many thousands of others have been coerced into registering with their local authorities as drug users in so-called " knock and plead " operations. Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told CNN that all deaths at the hands of police in the country are the result of justified shootings in self-defense. Critics say police are acting with impunity. There's been no evidence presented that Dimaukom was involved in the drug trade. A woman cradles her husband, next to a placard which reads "I'm a pusher," who was shot dead in Manila on July 23, 2016. Police patrol a shanty community at night during curfew on June 8, 2016 in Manila. Philippine police have been conducting frequent night raids and revived a curfew for minors that has not been enforced for years. Some 1,000 people whom authorities accused of being drug users and dealers take an oath before local authorities after turning themselves in in Tanauan, the Philippines, on July 18, 2016. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte swept to power on a promise to clamp down on drugs in a two-month crime blitz, encouraging police and even civilians to shoot drug dealers. The country has seen a surge in killings of suspected dealers. A man authorities accused of being a drug user is fingerprinted during the mass surrender of some 1,000 alleged drug users and pushers in the Philippine town of Tanauan, located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Manila on July 18, 2016. A social worker gives counseling to those who have turned themselves in for drug-related crimes in the Philippines on July 18, 2016. A Philippine police forensic investigator displays packets of drugs and a hand gun found inside a shanty where members of a suspected drug syndicate were killed after a shootout with police on July 3, 2016. A suspected female member of a drug syndicate is presented by police in Manila on June 22, 2016. A gun, bullets, marked money and sachets of crystal meth are laid on a table after a drug raid in Manila on June 20, 2016. Police officers stand in formation before the start of "Oplan Rody" on June 1, 2016, a law enforcement operation named after President Duterte, whose nickname is Rody. Dimaukom is not the first elected official implicated in the drug war. Rolando Espinosa, the mayor of Albuera, on the island province of Leyte, was arrested in August. His son, Kerwin Espinosa, 35, is accused by Duterte of being one of the biggest illegal drug operators in the Eastern Visayas region and was arrested earlier in October in Abu Dhabi. He had been on a "shoot on sight" list. Also earlier this month, the Philippines Senate Committee -- led by a Duterte ally -- decided to stop investigating the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and users during the President's first few months in office. The senator heading the committee when the investigation began, a fierce critic of Duterte, was ousted by the President's allies in September.</s>A MAGUINDANAO mayor, who was tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as “narco-politician,” and nine of his armed men were killed in a clash past a roadblock in Makilala, North Cotabato at dawn on Friday.

Supt. Bernard Tayong, spokesman for the Cotabato Police Provincial Office, confirmed that Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town was killed in the “armed engagement” between his group and law enforcers in Barangay Old Bulatukan at about 4:30 a.m.

The identities of the nine other fatalities were not immediately known.

The suspects were on board two vehicles and a police car escort when flagged down at a checkpoint by Region 12 anti-illegal drugs group police team but instead of stopping, the group allegedly opened fire at the lawmen, triggering a firefight.

Tayong said police have received information that Dimaukom’s group was to transport huge stocks of shabu to Maguindanao and Cotabato City from Davao.

“It was a legitimate anti-drug operation but the subjects opened fire on our troops,” Supt. Romeo Galgo Jr., speaking for Police Regional Office 12, said.

He is the first local executive on drug list to be killed.

A witness who saw the crime scene said a police car and a passenger van believed to be in Dimaukom’s convoy were peppered with bullets.

Last September, Dimaukom surrendered to the Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald de la Rosa. denying public pronouncements of the President that he was involved in the illegal drug trade in the country.

Despite his surrender, the police raided his house in Datu Saudi Ampatuan but operatives did not find any evidence against him in connection with illegal drugs.

Aside from Dimaukom, Duterte also named several other mayors in Maguindanao, as sources of illegal drugs in the Muslim region and nearby provinces.

The family of the mayor did not immediately release any statement on the incident.

‘Mayor Pink’

 Dimaukom is also known as “Mayor Pink,” having shown fondness for pink, painting his big house and buildings in his hometown pink, including a huge mosque in Maguindanao.

The Pink Mosque in Datu Saudi Ampatuan is one of the beautiful mosques in the province just like the Bolkiah Mosque. The mosque is worth millions, which Dimaukom supposedly built out of his personal funds.

In an interview with The Manila Times, Dimaukom said pink is the favorite color of his wife. He explained that he is using pink as a symbol of love for his fellowmen.

His constituents look up to him as generous leader and an advocate of good governance that when his name was mentioned by the President on the first list of so-called narco-politicians, many were surprised.</s>Foul-mouthed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who once called the pope a “son of a bitch” and told U.S. President Barack Obama to “go to hell,” says he has promised to God he won’t spew expletives again.

Duterte’s profanities have become his trademark, especially when threatening to kill drug dealers as part of his war on illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead since he took office at the end of June.

Duterte made the stunning pledge on arrival in his southern hometown of Davao late Thursday from a trip to Japan.

While flying home, he said he was looking at the sky while everyone was sound asleep, and he heard a voice that said, “If you don’t stop epithets, I will bring this plane down now.”

“And I said, ‘Who is this?’ So, of course, ‘It’s God,'” he said.

“So, I promise God to … not express slang, cuss words and everything. So you guys hear me right always, because (a) promise to God is a promise to the Filipino people.”

Duterte’s vow was met with applause, but he cautioned, “Don’t clap too much or else this may get derailed.”

He shocked the dominant Roman Catholics last year when he fired off an expletive while expressing his disgust over a monstrous traffic jam that trapped him while Pope Francis was visiting Manila. “I wanted to call, ‘Pope, you son of a bitch, go home. Don’t visit here anymore,'” he told a mob of supporters, some of whom laughed.

He later apologized after Filipino bishops expressed shock and outrage.

It is not certain if the 71-year-old president, who has been compared to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump because of his brash language, can keep his promise. Duterte made a similar pledge in June when it became evident that he had won the May 9 presidential election overwhelmingly on a pledge to end crime, especially illegal drugs and corruption.

He said then that he was enjoying his last moments as a “rude person” because “when I become president, when I take my oath of office … that will be a different story. There will be a metamorphosis.”

It didn’t take long for Duterte to break the promise.

He has repeatedly leveled SOB-laced tirades against Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a few outspoken opposition politicians and human rights advocates, while heaping praises on Chinese and Russian leaders.

There were no expletives in his Thursday speech, but Duterte still sounded mean toward critics.

When asked for his message for a Filipino beauty queen who won the recent Miss International pageant, Duterte said he was proud. “Many Filipinas are beautiful, but all of you there in the human rights commission are ugly.”

Asked if the days of his cursing the U.S. and the EU are over, Duterte didn’t answer clearly.

“I do not want anybody reading my mind because I couldn’t make a smart move anymore. But it’s all calibrated, it’s all about timing,” Duterte said.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that Duterte was “certainly entitled to his views about his own relationship with the supreme being” but would not comment on whether it would make conversation easier with the Philippine leader.</s>JAKARTA: The secret activity of several housewives who gathered in a rented house in the district of Tambakreja, Cilacap, in Central Java was finally exposed when they were caught red-handed in a drug orgy.

Online media quoted Cilacap Special Anti-narcotics Police Force chief Sumanto as saying, the five housewives aged between 26 and 40, from several territories outside of Cilacap including Jakarta and Bogor, were high on drugs when arrested in a 7.30pm raid.

The police also seized two packets of syabu weighing 2.5 gram, drug-taking paraphernalia made from bottles, a weighing scale and cash amounting to Rp1 million (approximately RM300).

“Based on a public tip-off, police detained a woman and conducted surveillance for one month before raiding the house believed to have been turned into a drug-feast den for women,” he said.

Sumanto said the suspects tested positive for amphetamine and were charged under the Drug Abuse Act, which carries a punishment of five years.

He said the origin of the women’s drug supply was still being investigated and believe police could cripple the drug ring in the district soon. – Bernama
Datu Saudi-Ampatuan mayor Samsudin Dimaukom, publicly accused by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of involvement in the illegal drug trade, is killed, along with nine others, by Philippine police at a highway checkpoint in what police describe as an anti-drug operation.