Philippine president should investigate surging police killings

By Phelim Kine

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today dropped his reflexive praise for the recent alarming surge in police killings of criminal suspects. Instead, he said that he and his government are willing to “submit ourselves for an investigation” into those deaths. Also for the first time, Duterte cautioned police to refrain from using deadly force “if you’re not in danger of losing your life.” That contrasts with his promise to Philippine voters during the election campaign that he “will solve drugs, criminality, and corruption in three to six months” by whatever means necessary.

Duterte’s comments are long overdue, but the sharp rise in police killings of suspected criminals and drug offenders requires government action, not rhetoric. Philippine human rights groups have documented the surge in killings since Duterte took office on June 30. The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s twice-weekly “Kill List,” which tallies the killings of suspected drug dealers and users by police and unidentified vigilantes, records a “marked and unmistakable” rise in such killings – 646 deaths since Duterte was sworn in.

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Thumbnail: Flickr CC David Madrid