Extra-judicial killings rise in the Philippines

Human rights and church groups in the Philippines have expressed concern over a spate of killings of suspected drug dealers and addicts since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

"It is alarming that these incidents happened after Duterte was elected president," said Fr Robert Reyes, known as the "running priest" for his penchant to run for various causes.

The president of De La Salle Philippines, a network of educators running 16 Catholic schools across the country, slammed the spate of killings that started after the landslide victory of Philippine President Duterte. In a pastoral statement on 21 July, De La Salle Philippines president Brother Jose Mari Jimenez said, "as a Catholic and a Filipino, I am deeply disturbed by the spate of killings that have attended this administration's pronouncements regarding its anti-crime and illegal-drugs campaign."

At least 60 people have been reported killed in police encounters since the new president, who vowed to kill drug traffickers and drug addicts, took office a month ago. Police say the suspects fought back. Around the country, bodies have been found bloody, lifeless, and adorned with signs proclaiming their crimes. Nobody knows who their murderers are.