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Kyodo

The official death toll from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign has surpassed 5,000, authorities said on Tuesday.
Government figures covering the period from July 1, 2016, when the campaign was launched, to November 30 this year show that 5,050 people have been killed.

A total of 164,265 “drug personalities” were arrested as part of 115,435 anti-drugs operations across the country during the reporting period.
Derrick Carreon, spokesman of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, said that if the life of a government operative is in danger, as well as those of surrounding people, “naturally, commensurate force has to be implemented in order to repel the threat.”
“Any death is alarming … but anti-drugs operations carry the highest possibility of an armed encounter, especially if the suspect is armed and under the influence of illegal drugs,” he said.

Human Rights Watch, among many watchdogs keenly observing the affect of Duterte’s war on drugs, claims the actual death toll exceeds 12,000.
Despite international criticism and an impending investigation by the International Criminal Court, Duterte has vowed to continue the campaign.
Duterte’s martial law move renews authoritarianism fears in Philippines
As of November 30, more than 3 tonnes of methamphetamine worth 18.43 billion pesos (about US$347 million) has been seized by authorities in various raids.

Carreon said illegal drugs are both manufactured in the country and brought in from elsewhere by syndicates mainly from China, Africa and Mexico.
“We assure you that the police, PDEA and all law enforcement agencies prioritise high value targets … But let it not be said that street-level illegal drugs activities should not be neglected. They are equally headaches to the people in the community,” he said.
Fierce Duterte critic Maria Ressa among Time’s ‘Persons of the Year’
Beyond the law enforcement aspect, the government is actively engaging local officials to help in the campaign. So far, 9,503 barangays, or village-size political units, out of 32,144 identified across the country as having been infested with illegal drugs, have been cleared. The Philippines has a total of 42,044 barangays.
Other agencies are also involved in the treatment of drug dependents who opted to surrender. The latest statistics showed some 303,533 individuals have graduated from rehabilitation programmes.


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The Philippines

Official death toll in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs exceeds 5,000

Evidence markers surround the body of a dead man shot in Makati, south of Manila. Photo: EPA

Supporters of Kian delos Santos attend a vigil at the police station where three policemen involved in Kian's killing were assigned in Manila on November 29, 2018. - Three Philippine policemen were sentenced on November 29 to decades in prison for murdering teenager Kian delos Santos during an anti-narcotics sweep, a first conviction of officers carrying out President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP)

epa06149366 Filipino police investigators conduct investigation at the scene where a suspected criminal was killed following a police operation against illegal drug in Manila, Philippines, 18 August 2017. According to news reports, at least 15 suspected criminals were killed on the third night of a simultaneous police operation as President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against illegal drug intensifies. Duterte had lauded the anti-drug operation carried out, one of the bloodiest weeks so far that had led to 82 deaths and hundreds of arrests. Duterte had launched the controversial war on drugs on 30 June 2016, the same day he had assumed power. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2018, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte listens to a speech during a ASEAN Plus China Summit meeting in Singapore. Duterte, whose controversial war on drugs has cost thousands of lives, said Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, he uses marijuana to keep awake at long regional meetings, but later disavowed his assertion as a joke. Duterte made the comment at an awards ceremony where he talked about attending a recent summit meeting in Singapore of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and how the daylong schedules of such gatherings is grueling. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

‘My only sin is the extrajudicial killings,’ says Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

File photo of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: Xinhua/TNS

epa05665143 Filipino funeral parlor wokers carry a dead body following a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila, Philippines, 08 December 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte launched a nationwide anti-drug campaign that has so far reportedly led to the deaths of 5,900 people, killed in police raids and at the hands of vigilante groups since the campaign started on 30 June. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

(180913) -- QUEZON CITY, Sept. 13, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) leads a command conference on typhoon Mangkhut at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, Sept. 13, 2018. Philippine authorities warned the public of floods, landslides and high waves even before Typhoon Mangkhut hits the northern tip of the Philippine main Luzon Island this weekend. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Duterte’s martial law extension renews fears of authoritarianism in the Philippines

Military trucks drive past destroyed buildings and a mosque in what was the main battle area in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on October 25, 2017, days after the military declared the fighting against IS-inspired Muslim militants over. Philippine troops of a southern Philippine city where Islamic State supporters waged a brutal five-month battle began leaving Marawi on October 25, as a group of journalists were given the first ever press tour of the devastated city. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE

Retired police officer Arturo "Arthur" Lascanas testifies at a Senate hearing in Manila on March 6, 2017. The former police aide of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he was part of a "death squad" that took part in over 300 killings when Duterte was a city mayor. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE

Smoke billows are seen as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group, who have taken over parts of Marawi city, Philippines June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Ruins in Marawi city. Photo: EPA

File photo of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AFP

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should take drug test after marijuana ‘joke’ says Senator Antonio Trillanes

Philippines opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes is daring President Rodrigo Duterte to take a drug test. Photo: AP

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But rights groups say the actual number of people killed between July 2016 and November this year is closer to 12,000


However, rights groups say the actual number of people killed between July 2016 and November this year is closer to 12,000.


Rodrigo Duterte

Drugs

International Criminal Court

Human rights