Duterte, Citing Hitler, Says He Wants to Kill 3 Million Addicts in Philippines

[K. A. Pital]

Fact is, China wins. Long-term planning gives them the upper hand no matter what (1,5 billion >> 0,3 billion people), unless their entire state collapses. Unless the others are prepared to wait another 50-60 years for the rise of India to switch partners...

Now, while China is still weak, people can still use threats of isolation or siding with US - and then get good deals in rapproachment periods.

In 20-30 years, there won't be a good deal from China for anyone in South East Asia, not anymore.

[Flagg]

So will Duturd have to administer himself a drug test and can he officially pardon himself before he's hacked to death by a crazed mob (the ones outside his skull)? Because he's the only guy this side of Lil' Kim Jr making Donnie Douchebag look liked a reserved statesman.

[Shroom Man 777]

I guess if the disputants in South East Asia can't get their shit together, then we probably "deserve" getting Monroe Doctrine'd by China. Well, deserve's got nothing to do with it. Yeah.

[Flagg]

I guess if the disputants in South East Asia can't get their shit together, then we probably "deserve" getting Monroe Doctrine'd by China. Well, deserve's got nothing to do with it. Yeah.

That's what Americans can't understand (and I'm an America, but I have a good imagination and can do so without understanding), the idea that you are doing your own thing, even if it's rotten and of strategic importance (Not you, aboriginal, the land we're taking over despite) you having a flag) we' are going to dictate how and where you live your life.

But we get it, that totes happened to us like 2 and 1/3 centuries ago.

[Shroom Man 777]

Signaling a shift in strategy in its blood-soaked war against drugs, Philippines police aim to reduce the killing of suspects and put more resources into arresting prominent people tied to the trade, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Project Double Barrel Alpha will put a stronger focus on arresting politicians, military, police, government officials and celebrities allegedly involved in narcotics, the sources said.

The new approach will be outlined on Tuesday at a meeting of police chiefs from each of the Philippines' 18 regions at Camp Crame, the police headquarters north of the capital Manila, Philippines National Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos confirmed to Reuters.

The operation will be launched within days, Carlos said, adding he did not have further details of the new operation.

The meeting comes after what one of the sources familiar with details of the plan described as "intense" discussions among law enforcement officials about the wave of killings of drug suspects.

"We will give emphasis [to] arrests rather than neutralization," said one of the sources.

Asked why the new approach is being taken now, he said: "It is related to the EJK issue. We are doing our best to address that ... It was a collective decision after an intense discussion of the implications of the EJK issue." He did not elaborate on who was involved in the decision-making.

"Neutralization" is a euphemism for the killings that have characterized the anti-drugs drive. EJK refers to extrajudicial killings.

A recent poll showed public unease over the deadly anti-drug campaign, with 94 percent of the respondents saying it was important for the police to take suspects alive.

Another component of Project Double Barrel Alpha will see police working with community leaders to clear neighborhoods of drugs and set up local rehabilitation programs.

'NARCO STATE'

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte had given police six months to suppress drugs and crime, warning the country was on the verge of becoming a "narco state". He then extended the campaign, called "Project Double Barrel" another six months to make it a year.

In less than four months since taking office, almost 2,300 people have been slain in the crackdown, according to official figures, revised down from earlier estimates of 3,600.

The majority of the deaths - more than 1,600 - were during police operations, drawing sharp criticism from Western governments, the United Nations, human rights groups and some Catholic priests.

"If you know any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful," Duterte told supporters the day after he took office on June 30 this year.

Duterte's comments were condemned by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard. "It is effectively a license to kill," she said.

At other times, however, Duterte has said he doesn't endorse extrajudicial killings or vigilante murders of drug suspects.

"Who killed them? I don't know but why are they pointing at me, blaming me for those deaths," Duterte said earlier this month.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told Reuters:

"Everything that the president said was always in the context of sticking within the law."

WAR ON POOR

For months, Duterte has also talked about cracking down on major drug dealers, government officials and prominent Filipinos who use drugs, take bribes from drug syndicates or are directly involved.

He has read out the names of 158 government officials with alleged links to illicit drugs. He has also boasted of a broader list of about 1,000 drug suspects.

Police have said they are compiling a list of celebrities accused of being drug users and peddlers.

Now Project Double Barrel Alpha will start going after the big names in the illegal drug trade, or "high value targets", the sources familiar with the plan said.

Thus far, the counter-narcotics campaign has focused overwhelming on impoverished drug users and small-time dealers, prompting criticism that it's a war on the poor.

In recent years, government officials who have been arrested for drugs are more likely to be set free than serve any prison time.

Data from the Philippines Department of Justice reviewed by Reuters shows that 715 officials were arrested between 2011 and 2016 on drug matters, including "law enforcers", elected officials and government employees. Of those, 74 per cent had their cases dismissed, or were acquitted. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

CLEARING BARANGAYS

Another element of Project Double Barrel Alpha, was what one source described as a "Barangay Clearing Operation", where police will work more closely with local authorities and residents to "systematically" rid neighborhoods of drugs and place more emphasis on rehabilitation.

About 27 percent of barangays - the more than 42,000 districts or villages that comprise the lowest tier of government in the Philippines - were deemed drug-affected as of September 2016, according to police and anti-narcotics enforcement data.

Once community leaders declare an area drug-free, the chief of police will certify it as such.

The military will be involved in the clearing operation, providing what one source described as "perimeter security" and intelligence.

Philippines military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla would not comment directly on any greater involvement of the military in the anti-drugs campaign. He told Reuters the armed forces would step in where police numbers were "lean" and when they were asked to become involved.

If armed forces personnel did arrest people, it was only where "law enforcement officers are not in the locality," he said.

[Zaune]

Well, it's a small step in the right direction, I guess?

[Crazedwraith]

Signaling a shift in strategy in its blood-soaked war against drugs, Philippines police aim to reduce the killing of suspects and put more resources into arresting prominent people tied to the trade, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Project Double Barrel Alpha will put a stronger focus on arresting politicians, military, police, government officials and celebrities allegedly involved in narcotics, the sources said.

Involved in the drugs trade? Or just people Duterte doesn't like?

[The Romulan Republic]

Signaling a shift in strategy in its blood-soaked war against drugs, Philippines police aim to reduce the killing of suspects and put more resources into arresting prominent people tied to the trade, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Project Double Barrel Alpha will put a stronger focus on arresting politicians, military, police, government officials and celebrities allegedly involved in narcotics, the sources said.

Involved in the drugs trade? Or just people Duterte doesn't like?

Yeah, that does sound like it has "political purge" written all over it.

[Shroom Man 777]

Aaaaand noooowww....

Duterte's visit to China has a lot of Chinese companies planning for projects in the Philippines, most of them are just in the memorandum of understanding stages, but there are some that are already past that, apparently deals were done even before Duterte's election (including some in Davao City, Duterte's mayordom, set up back during his mayorhood...). Companies include those blacklisted by the World Bank for questionable practices. And... a company involved in dredging up those artificial islands in the South East Asian sea. And people pointing this out are being shat on in social media (we should be grateful for these projects! and/or those reports are made up by media conspiracies!).

[K. A. Pital]

Is Duterte really kicking out the Yankees, though? Or just talking tough?

[Shroom Man 777]

He's enacted the Heisenberg's Uncertainty Philippines - obfuscation does give him more options. It might make our potential allies have a bidding war for us. Hopefully it diminishes pressure from China.. but I hope it is deliberate obfuscation on his part, because if he is sincere in selling out to China, guh. Hello new boss, same or even worse than the old boss.

Also, I noticed that, as I was arguing with people regarding the Chinese companies that bagged deals for local development projects, the Duterte supporters were quoting Dutertist-outlets - social media personalities and alt-news sites - that were quoting a government agency.. hours before said agency's statement was posted by the agency itself in its official FB and its official site.

The Dutertista social media personalities and alt-news site were timed at 8AM yesterday... the government agency's press release (that the Dutertists quoted!) was posted 2:43PM yesterday... They got the statements HOURS before the gov't agency itself posted 'em

Time And Rodrigo Duterte In Space. TARDUTS. Doctor Duts.

[K. A. Pital]

That guy seems more and more to be your version of Putin. Minus the horse-riding and judo.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Is Duterte really kicking out the Yankees, though? Or just talking tough?

Hard to tell at this point, especially since much of China's recent development was bankrolled by American corporations.

It does seem that Duterte is going for the "even worse than Marcos" prize, if such a thing exists.

[Elheru Aran]

That guy seems more and more to be your version of Putin. Minus the horse-riding and judo.

Putin? Not so much. Tinpot banana-republic dictator-wannabe suckling on the Chinese tit, more like.

[cosmicalstorm]

He seems to be insane. And this is an insane gamble, sometimes those work. Sometimes you fall of the trains roof.

[Elheru Aran]

He seems to be insane. And this is an insane gamble, sometimes those work. Sometimes you fall of the trains roof.

Except when you're leading an entire nation... sometimes the nation falls off the train with you too. It's irresponsible, ill judged, and entirely too hasty.

[Shroom Man 777]

Suspect Stats
As death toll rises, Duterte deploys dubious data in 'war on drugs'

Top anti-narcotics officials in the Philippines admit that data the president uses to justify his battle against drugs is flawed and exaggerated. That could determine who gets drug treatment - and who ends up on dreaded hit lists.

MANILA – Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte ended a recent speech in Manila with a now-familiar claim: Two policemen were dying every day in his violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs.

But police statistics have shown that figure to be exaggerated. From July 1, when Duterte launched his “war on drugs,” to Oct. 12, when he spoke in Manila, 13 police officers were killed. That’s an average of one every eight days.

This is not the only dubious claim Duterte has used to justify his bloody anti-narcotics campaign, according to a Reuters review of official government data and interviews with the president’s top anti-drug officials.

These officials say that data on the total number of drug users, the number of users needing treatment, the types of drugs being consumed and the prevalence of drug-related crime is exaggerated, flawed or non-existent. But they say the problematic statistics don’t matter because the campaign has focused attention on a long-neglected crisis in the Philippines.

“I don’t see it as a problem,” said Wilkins Villanueva, the Metro Manila regional director for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the country’s leading anti-narcotics agency. “Before, our fight against dangerous drugs was a lonely battle… Now, everybody’s helping us – the community’s helping us.”

Nearly 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes since Duterte took office on June 30, according to the Philippines police. That figure was revised down this month by the police from an original tally of 3,600 deaths.

In response to questions from Reuters, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the story was “malicious” and referred Reuters to the Philippine National Police.

The crackdown has been criticised abroad but enjoys widespread support in the Philippines, which Duterte has said faces collapse if the “drug menace” isn’t tackled.

In his inaugural State of the Nation Address on July 25, Duterte declared that there were 3.7 million “drug addicts” in the Philippines.

“The number is quite staggering and scary,” he said. “I have to slaughter these idiots for destroying my country.”

But according to a 2015 survey by the Office of the President’s Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the main drug policy and research unit, the Philippines has fewer than half that many drug users.

And rather than being “addicts,” as Duterte refers to all drug users, about a third of the 1.8 million users identified in the DDB survey had taken drugs only once in the previous 13 months. Fewer than half of them – 860,000 – had consumed crystal meth, or shabu, the highly addictive stimulant widely blamed by officials for high crime rates and other social ills. Most were marijuana users.

PDEA's Villanueva said he didn't care if President Duterte “overestimates” the number of drug users as long as it made people aware of the problem.

Officials in the president’s media office contacted by Reuters could not say where the data came from to back up another of the government’s central claims: that 75 percent of serious crimes in the Philippines are drug-related.

Police and senior officials have used the claim to justify tough measures against drug users and pushers, and say those measures have been vindicated by a drop in crime since the anti-drug campaign began.

The faulty figures have other real-world implications. They determine, for instance, how many people the government says must be targeted to eradicate drug demand in the Philippines. That has led to the drawing up of police “watch lists” with the names of drug suspects, hundreds of whom have been shot dead either in police operations or by unknown gunmen.

The president’s statistical claims continue to drive policy. In September, Duterte said the number of “addicts” would rise to four million by the end of the month and vowed to extend his drug war for another six months - to June 2017. That statement came after remarks on Sept. 30, when Duterte seemed to compare himself to Hitler and said he would be “happy to slaughter” three million drug addicts.

BURDEN OF HARM

A senior Philippines law enforcement officer said Duterte’s “arbitrary” figures had put pressure on police and government officials.

“The problem is, every time the president says something, it’s already some sort of a policy statement,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We have to toe the line.”

The officer pointed, for example, to the more than 700,000 people who have registered in the past three months with the authorities as drug users or pushers, a process known as “surrendering.” But, he said, authorities were expected to produce at least 1.8 million “surrenderers” to match the number of users cited in the DDB report.

“That’s the reason we are having a hard time. We need to produce,” he said. “Even if we add up everything . . . we are not even close to 1.8 million.”

PDEA’s Villanueva said the president’s assessment of the drug problem was reasonable, and he felt no pressure.

“He just exaggerates it so we will know that the problem is very big,” Villanueva said of Duterte. “The implication is that we have to work hard to solve the problem and we have to work hard so that . . . occasional drug users do not turn into regular drug users.”

Statements by Duterte and other officials not only fail to distinguish between users and problem users, say drug-treatment specialists, but also between users of shabu and marijuana. Shabu is a highly addictive stimulant with side effects that can include aggression and psychosis.

“They are completely different substances in terms of risk profiles and harms,” said Robert Ali, director of a University of Adelaide research centre on drug and alcohol treatment who works with the World Health Organization. “Shabu has a higher risk of addiction. It is associated with a greater range of physical and psychological harms.”

While drug abuse is a real problem in the Philippines, said Ali, it was hard to devise an effective national response based on flawed data. “With public health, whether it’s diabetes or drug use, you need a sense of the burden of harm to understand how to use your resources,” he said.

Joanne Csete, a specialist in health and human rights at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York, said that the term “current drug users” usually refers to those who have used drugs in the past month. However, the DDB survey counts anyone who has used drugs in the past 13 months, which Csete says could inflate the number of users.

“So the president can make up whatever numbers he likes – the survey does not adequately estimate current use,” she said.

CRIME ALREADY DOWN

The claim that 75 percent of “heinous crime” in the Philippines is drug-related features in an official booklet called “Winning the First Phase of the Drug War.” It was handed out by the president’s media team in September at a regional summit in Laos attended by world leaders.

According to the booklet, heinous crimes include murder, rape, human trafficking and treason.

It is not clear where the president’s media team got the 75 percent figure. The booklet identifies the source of the number as the Philippines National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM). But six officials in the office responsible for the booklet and at the DIDM were unable to point to a specific study or explain how the figure was calculated.

Nimfa Reloc, who monitors heinous crime cases for DIDM, said the office had released no such data or analysis and did not know where the number came from. She said 15 percent of heinous crimes are drug-related. Benjamin Reyes, the DDB’s chairman, said there was “actually no data” on crimes committed under the influence of drugs.

An estimated 18 percent of convicted prisoners worldwide are in jail for drug-related offences, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“Illegal drugs do create a substantial burden on societies, and it’s important that governments respond in ways that reduce the economic cost of drug use… and reduce pain and suffering from drug use,” said Alison Ritter, a researcher at Australia’s National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre.

But crime is complicated, and the rise and fall in crime rates can’t be attributed to a single campaign or even a single institution such as the police, Ritter said. “To argue that killing people for consuming drugs is associated with crime reduction is blatantly unsupported,” she said.

“Index” or serious crimes in the Philippines dropped by 31 percent in January to August this year compared with the same period in 2015, according to police statistics presented to a Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings on Oct. 5.

“If you don’t call it winning, I don’t know what to call it,” said Villanueva at PDEA.

But the same police statistics show serious crime was already in decline during the administration of Duterte’s predecessor, President Benigno Aquino, who did not conduct a war on drugs.

In fact, Aquino was still in office for most of the period covered by the 2016 statistics. The police figures show that in the January-August period of 2015, serious crime was down 22 percent compared with the same period the previous year. In 2014, it declined 26 percent.

While the crime rate has been dropping for several years, under Duterte the murder rate has risen since he launched his anti-drug campaign. In the first three months of his administration, police recorded a total of 3,760 murders, compared with 2,359 in the same period last year, a rise of 59 percent.

“Compared with last year, we are better off this year,” said Dionardo Carlos, the national police spokesman. “Most of the victims this time are the drug users.”

In Davao City, where Duterte was mayor for 22 years, he led an equally brutal anti-drugs crackdown. There, death squads killed hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, said Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report. Duterte denied any involvement in the killings.

Despite the crackdown, Davao still ranks first among 15 cities in the Philippines for murder and second for rape, according to police crime data from 2010 to 2015.

METH VERSUS MARIJUANA

Senior anti-narcotics officials in the Philippines also invoke conflicting or incomplete data in trying to identify how many people are problem users, which drug they use and what treatment they might need.

While the DDB survey says about 860,000 people are shabu users, PDEA chief Villanueva puts the number at 1.4 million. He explained to Reuters how he reached this number.

Villanueva started with an estimate based on drug-rehab facility data that he said showed 75 percent of patients at these facilities were shabu users. He then applied this percentage to the DDB’s 1.8 million figure for all drug users.

He acknowledged that rehab data was already skewed towards shabu users, who seek treatment more often than users of less addictive drugs, and that applying the percentage to another study was problematic.

“Actually, the 75 percent does not translate, but it’s a pretty good assumption,” said Villanueva, who spent 12 years with PDEA in Davao City, where he said he got to know Duterte.

Of the 1.4 million shabu users Villanueva had identified by his method, about 700,000 people had already “surrendered” to the police as drug users and pushers, he said.

“We are taking away already one half of the demand,” said Villanueva.

Treatment experts dispute this claim, since the severity of drug use among those who surrender is unclear. A spokesperson at the Philippines’ Department of Health said he didn’t know how many “surrenderers” had been medically screened.

This matters, said Ali, the University of Adelaide treatment specialist, because “drug use is not necessarily drug dependence.” Only about 10 to 15 percent of shabu users might require residential care, he said. Ali said he based this estimate on his clinical experience and the experience of treatment services in the United Kingdom.

The DDB’s survey does not distinguish between users and problem users.

“We did not try to categorize them, whether or not they were addicts, problematic drug users, or just plain users,” said DDB chairman Reyes.

To calculate the number of problem users, said Reyes, the DDB relied on global estimates from the UNODC that say 0.6 percent of drug users are problem users, which means they require treatment.

Reyes said he rounded this figure up to one percent and applied it to the figure of 1.8 million users, and concluded that the Philippines had, at most, 18,000 drug users in need of treatment.

“It’s a small number,” he said.

“HARDLINE APPROACH”

Yet Reyes said domestic support for the drug war wouldn’t change even if it was widely known that the country had far fewer drug users than Duterte claims. “There is really a perception that we need a hardline approach to the problem,” he said.

Other top backers of the drug war agree. The 3.7 million figure cited by Duterte “doesn’t mean anything,” said Villanueva. “I believe he has his own survey, aside from the DDB. But it’s not a scientific one.”

What’s important, he said, is that the president is now marshalling the resources needed to address the drug problem. PDEA is hiring and training another 400 agents and is expecting more firearms, vehicles and surveillance equipment, he said.

Philippines Senator Vicente Sotto, a former DDB chief who supports Duterte’s drug war, said inflated figures serve a purpose if they scare users into quitting.

“If they make people alarmed, then why not? It doesn’t hurt anyone,” he said. “People don’t care how it’s done as long as it’s done.”

[Shroom Man 777]

So a mayor in jail for drug lording... was killed in his cell along with his cellmate cause he supposedly resisted and drew a gun when some cops were serving him an arrest warrant in his cell at 4am in the morning...

[Zinegata]

I'm assuming Shroom got super-depressed and didn't post that the PH Supreme Court ruled that Marcos can be buried in our equivalent of Arlington, and that Duterte seems very willing to give the green light to the burial?

[Thanas]

Wooooow.

Just....

[Shroom Man 777]

I'm assuming Shroom got super-depressed and didn't post that the PH Supreme Court ruled that Marcos can be buried in our equivalent of Arlington, and that Duterte seems very willing to give the green light to the burial?

I was in Hong Kong when that happened, mere hours after arriving.

Then after that Duterte said that the brutalities and killings and wrongs done to the victims were unproven.

Then the day after that Trump won.

So I was having moodswings while in Disneyland going "WAW MACKEY MOOSE" and then while just in the lines or walking down the avenues "dear god what the hell is happening what the hell is wrong with them"

[Shroom Man 777]

Thanas if Merkel gets replaced by some fuckface I don't know how I'll feel and shit.

[K. A. Pital]

I truly hope you don't get depressed because of things happening in other countries, Shroom.

Otherwise people like myself have to be in a state of permanent depression because shit is happening all the time.

It is enough that shit is happening in one's home country.

[Shroom Man 777]

I actually do. Especially when meatspace friends jeer at the distraught experienced by vulnerable groups, when these meatspace shitheads treating recent happenings around the world like some kind of joke to make on the supposed whiny babies who are in all actuality people who are fearing for their lives and that of their loved ones (including people we know). Worse is when seemingly apolitical folks who keep quiet or focus on just their crafts or passions now have to speak up due to the deterioration of the condition, when they have to state their long pent-up concerns and advocacies that they previously left unsaid. We let them down and idiots - including idiots we also know - just jeer and deride and dismiss. It's different from just internet assholes, the types we mock.

What's worse is that this is a chain, a string. I've been watching what's happening elsewhere around the world, before what happened in my own country, seeing you people in the midst of the issues. It's not a nice feeling. Now it's here in my country. And then it happened there in the US - though I really hoped it might've been stopped there, it would have been a reprieve, an affirmation... like when Love Wins happened, a slap to the face to the insular shit-heads here like our fundamentalist homophobe boxer-senator... - and so, now, what's next? Face it, the US is an epicenter. OWS, BLM, Love Wins, we all looked up to that. And now this. Shit that can be used by bigots everywhere as ammunition. What the fuck happens now?

This is also part of solidarity. I guess we're not going to win all the time, in the bigger picture things continue, just like how they always had, and we've gotta do our homework and do our due diligences. But right here and right now it hurts.

[Flagg]

I'm assuming Shroom got super-depressed and didn't post that the PH Supreme Court ruled that Marcos can be buried in our equivalent of Arlington, and that Duterte seems very willing to give the green light to the burial?

I was in Hong Kong when that happened, mere hours after arriving.

Then after that Duterte said that the brutalities and killings and wrongs done to the victims were unproven.

Then the day after that Trump won.

So I was having moodswings while in Disneyland going "WAW MACKEY MOOSE" and then while just in the lines or walking down the avenues "dear god what the hell is happening what the hell is wrong with them"

I got nothing, dude. Every time I think of the horrors of only 4 years (I hope) of a Rapist Pedophile Donnie Douchebag presidency, I force myself to think of how badly you guys have it.

The worst part for me is that my sister in law (who is Filipino) swears by Duerte and says that the people killed deserve it, and that the international press reports are overblown because she doesn't believe more that a few hundred were killed (I know, right? ). But she's not there, she's safe and sound in Kuwait.