During his campaign for the nation's highest office, one of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines' main promises was to wage a unilateral drug war that would clean the country of narcotics by any means necessary. His rhetoric on the issue was no-nonsense and at times shocking. Duterte's vision may have turned many leaders in the developed world off, but it got him elected in May, and since then he has backed up his promise. Recently a rumor has gotten around that his son Paolo Duterte, who is Vice Mayor of Davao City, and Duterte's son in law, Manases Carpio, have themselves been involved in green-lighting the entry of a massive methamphetamine shipment through customs. Although the allegations are unsubstantiated, Duterte wasn't afraid to respond to what his course of action would be if they were found to be true.
"My order then is if any of my children are into drugs, kill them so that the public can't criticize us," Duterte is reported as having told a crowd of government workers he was recently handing out awards to in Malacañang. "I, as President, when I go after organized crime, and the law states everyone. No one should be favored," he said. Duterte recounted telling his son that if it came down to his son being confronted by a police officer over such activity, he'd back the officer.
An August report estimated that over 12,500 people had been killed in Duterte's war on drugs. He has been criticized by human rights organizations for encouraging citizens to indiscriminately kill drug dealers and has been forced to confront questions on whether he's collaborated with the Davao Death Squad vigilante group that has been accused of massacring suspected drug addicts and dealers. Duterte has at times openly aligned himself with the group and at other times denied direct collaboration.
Source: msn.com
