Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to “whack… in the head” any representative of the United Nations’s Human Rights Committee sent to observe his nationwide push to eradicate drug crime, calling those concerned about human rights during the infancy of his tenure “stupid.”
Duterte, the longtime mayor of southern Davao City — who won his position as head of state on a campaign vow to eradicate drug abuse and drug crime nationwide — has given police unprecedented liberties to detain drug crime suspects. He has become personally involved in the movement by naming 150 individuals in the government he claims to have evidence of having ties to drug crime. Over 60,000 Filipino drug abusers have surrendered to police and agreed to join rehabilitation programs since he took office in June, and hundreds have been arrested for ties to the drug trade.
Drug crime has decimated large swathes of the Philippines, particularly the impoverished south, where Duterte is from. The prime offending drug is methamphetamine, or “shabu,” which has grown increasingly popular among the nation’s youth. – READ MORE
