His article reported that since the beginning of July, about 2,000 people had been killed by the police and that there had been more than 3,500 unsolved killings in the country. These figures match the numbers given to the news media by a Philippine police spokesman, Dionardo Carlos.

Mr. Andanar said that about a third of the unsolved killings had been identified as drug-related.

“The rest are murder and homicide cases perpetrated by riding-in-tandem gunmen which the Philippine National Police (P.N.P.) is now investigating, the results of which will be made public in due time,” he said in the statement.</s>"In Davao, I used to do it personally. Just to show the guys that, if I can do it, why can't you?" Duterte said.

"And (I'd) go around Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around and I would just patrol the streets and looking for trouble also. I was really looking for an encounter so I could kill."

He made the remarks at the Wallace Business Forum in Manila on Monday.

The President's office has been contacted for comment. 'I have this migraine every day' Duterte: Trump agreed with our war on drugs Duterte: Trump agreed with our war on drugs Speaking at the same forum, Duterte told business leaders he had been using the painkiller fentanyl to relieve severe pain after a "bad slip." "I have this migraine every day. I had a bad slip ... I hit my head on the cement. I have a lot of issues with my spine," he said on Monday. Duterte said he had been using more than the recommended dose of fentanyl until his doctor stopped him. "I was only given a fourth of (the whole patch), but no more, because of course my doctor learned that I was using the whole patch because I felt better," he said. "When he knew it, he made me stop and he said, 'The first thing you would lose is your cognitive ability.'" In addition to the ongoing pain, Duterte said he suffered from Buerger's disease, due to his history of smoking. Former hitman: Duterte ordered me to kill Former hitman: Duterte ordered me to kill Allegations that Duterte had been personally involved in killings in Davao were previously made at a senate inquiry set up to look into extrajudicial killings during the President's drug crackdown Self-professed hitman Edgar Matobato told the committee he saw Duterte unload two magazines of an Uzi submachine gun into a National Bureau of Investigation official "He must have finished 200 bullets," Matobato said in September. The hitman claimed more than 1,000 people had been killed by death squads during Duterte's time as mayor. The senate inquiry was scrapped and investigations stopped in October , after the committee's head and Duterte critic, Sen. Leila De Lima, was replaced. 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. Duterte is no stranger to controversy -- he's frequently made headlines in the past year for his public statements. Before an international summit in September, he called US President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," while denouncing US condemnation of his war on drugs. In response, the White House canceled bilateral talks between the two leaders. During the same speech this week in which he admitted to killing people, Duterte said he had deliberately avoided Obama at the Laos summit to dodge an "awkward situation." "I would not know if he would accept my gesture of a handshake," said Duterte.</s>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a statement prior to his departure for Cambodia and Singapore for official visits to the ASEAN neighbors, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. Duterte said his trip to the ASEAN neighbors is in preparation for the upcoming ASEAN summits which the Philippines is hosting late next year.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived Tuesday on a state visit to Cambodia, where a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen will bring together two Southeast Asian leaders known for their tough-guy approach to governing.

The two leaders will witness the signing of memoranda of understanding on cooperation in sports and combating transnational crime. Their talks are also expected to touch on the South China Sea, where the Philippines has a territorial dispute with China, which is Cambodia's closest ally.

Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III took a combative stand against Beijing, but Duterte has changed his country's geopolitical orientation, seeking accommodation with China as he distances the Philippines from its traditionally close relations with the United States.

Before his departure from Manila, Duterte said his trip to the Philippines' neighbors — he will go to Singapore after Cambodia — is in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit meeting which the Philippines will host late next year.

Since he became president at the end of June, Duterte has been directing a war on illegal drugs which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of suspected drug dealers and users. Hun Sen has led his country for three decades by directing violence and intimidation at his political opponents.

Duterte, accompanied on his trip by Philippine boxing star and Senator Manny Pacquiao, will also meet with King Norodom Sihamoni.</s>China has previously said it supports President Duterte's bloody crime war which has claimed over 5,000 lives (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

China is ready to give the Philippines weapons to help President Rodrigo Duterte wage his controversial war on drugs which has claimed over 5,000 lives, the Chinese ambassador to Manila said.

Beijing has previously said it supports Duterte's bloody crime war, which has been slammed by the United Nations and human rights watchdogs over alleged extrajudicial killings.

Beijing and Manila have experienced a rapprochement since Duterte's election in May, despite their conflicting territorial claims to the South China Sea.

Ambassador Zhao Jianhua, in remarks late Monday, confirmed China was ready to supply the Philippines with weapons.

"We're exploring the possibilities of providing arms, light arms," Zhao told reporters.

"Arms for fighting against terrorism, (for the) anti-drug campaign."

The ambassador said talks were still in the initial stages, adding there was no agreement on price or the specific type of weapons, though they would most likely be rifles.

Duterte, 71, won elections in a landslide on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of criminals to fight narco-politics in the Philippines. Since he took office the crackdown has claimed over 5,000 lives.

The firebrand leader has also distanced the Philippines from longtime ally Washington, announcing his country's "separation" from the United States on a visit to the Chinese capital in October.

The Chinese ambassador noted bilateral relations were "good" and were "going to be better" still, "because your president paid a very fruitful and historic state visit to China".

Duterte has also hit out at US President Barack Obama and the State Department for criticism of his drug war.

However, according to Manila, incoming US leader Donald Trump has taken a different tact from Obama, apparently praising the crackdown when he spoke to Duterte by phone this month.

On Sunday, Duterte said China was ready to supply the Philippines with arms under generous terms.

"It is a grant payable in 25 years so it is practically giving," Duterte said in a speech.

He recently cancelled an order of about 27,000 assault rifles from the US after media reports that human rights concerns over his crime war would affect the delivery of the weapons.</s>PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived Tuesday on a state visit to Cambodia, where a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen will bring together two Southeast Asian leaders known for their tough-guy approach to governing.

The two leaders will witness the signing of memoranda of understanding on in sports and combating transnational crime. Their talks are also expected to touch on the South China Sea, where the Philippines has a territorial dispute with China, which is Cambodia's closest ally.

Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III took a combative stand against Beijing, but Duterte has changed his country's geopolitical orientation, seeking accommodation with China as he distances the Philippines from its traditionally close relations with the United States.

Before his departure from Manila, Duterte said his trip to the Philippines' — he will go to Singapore after Cambodia — is in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit meeting which the Philippines will host late next year.

Since he became president at the end of June, Duterte has been directing a war on illegal drugs which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of suspected drug dealers and users. Hun Sen has led his country for three decades by directing violence and intimidation at his political opponents.

Duterte, accompanied on his trip by Philippine boxing star and Senator Manny Pacquiao, will also meet with King Norodom Sihamoni.</s>WASHINGTON — The United States said Thursday it is withholding a major aid package to the Philippines and is deeply troubled by a boast from the nation's leader that he used to drive around looking for criminals to kill.

It's the latest sign of strain in U.S.-Philippine relations since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a crackdown on illegal drugs has led to thousands of deaths in police gunbattles.

Courting new controversy, Duterte said in a speech Monday that as a former mayor he'd patrol on a motorcycle hunting for criminals to kill to set an example for police to follow. Duterte said he was "really looking for an encounter to be able to kill."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, "Those comments are deeply troubling, and they certainly are at odds with the Philippine government's stated commitment to due process and rule of law."

Earnest reiterated U.S. concern about extrajudicial killings by or at the behest of Philippine government authorities - criticism that has angered Duterte, who has taken a hostile stance toward the U.S. and reached out to China and Russia since taking office in June.

The U.S.-government aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said that its board this week deferred a vote on a renewal of development assistance package for the Philippines, "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties."

The Philippines has been slated for another aid package after its previous five-year, $434 million poverty reduction program was completed in May.

The agency's spokeswoman, Laura Allen, said Thursday it will continue to monitor events in the Philippines. The next board review is in March 2017.

Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.</s>MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine justice secretary says President Rodrigo Duterte often exaggerates killings of criminals he supposedly carried out to send a chilling warning to lawbreakers.

Vitaliano Aguirre II told reporters Wednesday that Duterte may have been resorting to hyperbole when he suggested in a recent speech that he used to go around his southern city as mayor on a big motorcycle to look for criminals to kill so policemen would emulate him.

Aguirre said the president often uses hyperbole to put his message across.

Duterte, who took office in June, has been the target of criticism for his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, which has led to the deaths of more than 2,000 drug suspects in gunbattles with police. About 3,000 other drug-related killings are being investigated by authorities.</s>MANILA: The United States has not renewed a major aid package to the Philippines because of “significant concerns” about the rule of law under President Rodrigo Duterte, the US embassy said on Thursday.

“This decision reflects the Board’s significant concerns around rule of law and civil liberties in the Philippines,” embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina said in a statement emailed to Agence France-Presse after the country was not selected for a new Millennium Challenge Corporation grant.

The previous five-year grant, which was worth 433.9 million dollars, expired in May this year.

The US government set up the Millennium Challenge Corporation to promote economic growth and reduce poverty around the world.

However countries can only qualify if they “demonstrate a commitment to just and democratic governance, investments in its people, and economic freedom,” according to the corporation’s website.

The United States has been a vocal critic of Duterte’s war on drugs, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives since he took office nearly six months ago.

The criticism, including from President Barack Obama, has severely strained ties between the longtime allies.

Duterte has in response branded Obama a “son of a whore” and told him to “go to hell”, while seeking to establish closer ties with US rivals China and Russia.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation announced on Wednesday that new grants had been given to Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

Koscina said the corporation’s board decided to withhold a vote on whether to reselect the Philippines because of the rights concerns, although it could still be considered in the future.

“MCC will continue to monitor unfolding events in the Philippines and underscores that all country partners are expected to maintain eligibility, which includes not just a passing scorecard but also a demonstrated commitment to the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights,” she said.

Philippine police have reported killing 2,086 people in anti-drug operations since Duterte took office on June 30. More than 3,000 others have been killed in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures.

Often masked assailants break into shanty homes and kill people who have been tagged as drug traffickers or drug users. Rights groups have warned of a breakdown in the rule of law with police and hired assassins operating with complete impunity.

Duterte has insisted that police are only killing in self-defense and gangsters are murdering the other victims.

But he has also said he will not allow any police to go to jail if they are found guilty of murder in prosecuting his crime war.

This week Duterte said he had personally killed suspected criminals when he was mayor of a southern city to set an example for police.

In September Duterte likened himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as he said he was “happy to slaughter” three million drug users.

After condemnation from Jewish groups, Duterte apologised for his Hitler reference but said he was “emphatic” about wanting to kill the millions of drug users. AFP
The Philippines cabinet of Rodrigo Duterte, through former journalist Martin Andanar, criticizes the Western media's coverage of the Philippine Drug War, particularly that of The New York Times, and urges them to cover the purge more effectively.