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Since he took office, police have reported killing 3,967 people in direct illegal drugs crackdown. Another 2,290 people have been murdered in drug-related crimes, while thousands of other deaths remain unsolved. So far, he loves the number. He has no plan to deny his involvement. That’s because he loves to kill – the bad guys.
The actual number is believed to be higher. Some said it was more than 7,000 while others said up to 10,000 people could have been killed in what the police proclaim self-defence in a war on drugs. But who cares about the number? Philippine President Rodrigo “Rody” Roa Duterte does, and he would get terribly offended if the reports didn’t get the figure right.
In August 2016, Duterte was extremely upset when he was blamed for killing hundreds of suspected drug dealers. He revealed that he had actually killed more than 1,700 – not hundreds as alleged. While the world was shocked, millions of Filipinos weren’t. After all, he was the guy who named and shamed 5 powerful police generals allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
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In the Philippines, everyone knows police and suspected vigilantes are given licence to kill, and it doesn’t bother them a bit. There’s no space for human rights in the country, as far as fighting drug pushers is concerned. In a way, the country isn’t that different from China, Russia or even North Korea – police can shoot to kill defenceless addicts as if they are like pigs.
In fact, Duterte is worse than Kim Jong-un, or even Adolf Hitler for that matter, when he said last year that he would be “happy to slaughter” 3-million addicts. On Thursday while in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific economic summit, the Philippines president boasted about killing someone with his bare hands, for a very petty crime.
Duterte proudly revealed – “At the age of 16, I already killed someone. A real person, a rumble, a stabbing. I was just 16 years old. It was just over a look.” And at the same APEC summit in Vietnam, U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte were introduced for the first time. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said – “Albeit short, it was very warm and cordial.”
After their chat, Duterte claimed that Trump had offered him further “words of encouragement”. And at the pre-summit banquet on Sunday, Duterte sang a Filipino love song in front of his audience, saying that he did so on the orders of the US president, suggesting that the friendship between the two leaders are expected to blossom further.
Currently in Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on the last leg of his 12-day Asian trip, President Trump isn’t expected to raise any serious issue concerning human rights in front of host Philippines. Duterte had declared that he would tell the U.S. president to “lay off” if he raised the issue of human rights anyway
Last year, the same Duterte did two extraordinary things which pissed off Barack Obama so much that the then-U.S. president cancelled a meeting with the Filipino leader. First, he told Obama to mind his own business. Second, he called the U.S. president a “son of a bitch.” Perhaps realizing Duterte has a tongue more toxic than Kim Jong-un, Trump has chosen to respect him instead.
U.S. President Trump was so impressed with the “Donald Trump of Asia” that when a transcript of a call between both individuals were leaked in May this year, it was revealed how the U.S. Commander-in-Chief congratulated the Filipino “Dirty Harry” of the unbelievable job he had done on fighting drug problem.
Trump was originally scheduled to depart Manila on Monday but he added a day to the visit so he could more fully participate in one of the summits. In reality, he wanted more time to repair the relationship wrecked by predecessor Barack Obama. He wants to win back estranged ally Philippines from further shifting towards China and Russia.
Essentially, that puts the Philippines President Duterte as the most powerful leader in Southeast-Asia. When every leader in the region was fighting tooth and nail trying to get invited to the White House, Duterte was the only leader who said he would never visit the “lousy” U.S., despite being invited by Trump. That was after Congressman James McGovern announced he would protest any such trip.
In comparison, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak shamelessly bought his way to the White House about 2 months ago – desperately wanted a photo opportunity with President Trump. In spite of US$20 billion investment bribes, the gift offering drama didn’t work. Instead, the Malaysian leader was reduced to a “pariah” visit status, without any photo op, let alone a joint statement.
Mr. Najib’s neighbour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, subsequently visited the White House last month and was accorded a warmer and a much honourable treatment. There was tons of photo ops, luncheon with Trump and of course, a joint statement at the Rose Garden, all of which could only be dreamt by Najib Razak.
Still, nobody in Southeast-Asia could rival President Duterte. He openly admits to killing, called a sitting U.S. president a “son of a bitch” and even screwed the U.S. by declaring the “separation” from the nation. Yet, the Philippines leader received a super-friendly call from President Trump, praising his bloody drug war. And Duterte now gets to rub shoulders with the world’s most powerful man.
Besides admiration of his guts to standing up against a U.S. president (Barack Obama), Trump also respects Duterte as a decisive leader who is equally ruthless against extremism and terrorism. Angered by terrorism, Duterte famously said he would gladly eat up terrorists – alive and raw – as if they were sushi. That was in September 2016.
Exactly 1 year after Mr. Duterte threatened to eat alive the terrorists in his backyard, the “Dirty Harry” of the East declared his boys were ready to bomb mosques, because he was sick and tired that they were being used as some sort of “sanctuary” place due to the perception that non-Muslims dare not attackMuslims’ place of worship.
Last month, just a month after he gave his soldiers the license to bomb the mosques, Marawi was liberated from terrorists. Its success story like this that inspires President Trump that political-correct statement and human rights should take a back seat. Duterte doesn’t need to go to Washington to do apple polishing. The U.S. president comes to Manila instead.
– http://www.financetwitter.com
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