Duterte Harry... The Philippines Enforcer

The newly-elected president of the Philippines has told people to “go ahead and kill” drug addicts.

Rodrigo Duterte, formerly a lawyer, was sworn in at the end of June - but has already incited the killing of an indeterminate but large number of criminals, in particular drug traffickers.

Indeed, 30 alleged drug dealers have been killed since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as president, police said, announcing the seizure of nearly US$20m (£15m) worth of narcotics but sparking anger from a lawyers’ group.

More than 100 people have died – said to have been mostly suspected drug dealers, rapists and car thieves – in stepped up anti-crime police operations since the election on May 9.

Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, said the killings must be halted.

“The drug menace must stop … Yet the apparent serial summary executions of alleged street drug users or petty drug lords which appear sudden, too contrived and predictable must also stop,” he said. “The two are not incompatible.“

In the north of the main island of Luzon, drug enforcement agents and police seized a shipment of 180kg (400lb) of “shabu” (methamphetamine) worth about 900m pesos ($19.23m) from either China or Taiwan, said national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said.

The shipment was unloaded at sea and brought to shore by small fishing boats before delivery to Manila’s Chinatown, he said.

The controversial Duterte is known for his hardline stance on crime. During his time as mayor of Davao City, once crime ridden but now peaceful, he earned a reputation for being involved in unlawful killings with the byproduct of making the streets safe again for citizens.

Just after his inauguration, he told an audience in a Manila slum: “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself.”

Drug dealers are especially in Duterte’s sights. He said of them: “These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, don’t go into that, even if you’re a policeman, because I will really kill you.”

Hundreds of drug addicts and pushers have surrendered to authorities, concerned they would be killed. In recent weeks, dozens of suspected drug dealers have been killed, either in reported gun battles with police or under "mysterious circumstances".

On 1 July, ten drug dealers were killed separately in gunfights with police in Bulacan province, north of Manila, as the nationwide crackdown began, police said.

Duterte has even urged communist rebels – whom he plans to meet in peace talks – to kill drug traffickers.

“Drugs have reached the hinterlands," he said. "What if you use your kangaroo courts to kill them to speed up the solution to our problem?”

While many welcome the suppression of drugs and drug-related crime, Duterte - nicknamed by tabloids as Duterte Harry - after the Clint Eastwood cop - and The Punisher, alarmed rights groups with his brash and foul-mouthed rhetoric of killing. Yet he has maintained he will not become a dictator.

He has told the police he is not afraid of being impeached by Congress while fighting crime, and assured officers he would protect them if they kill large numbers of people while cracking down on lawlessness.

"Do your duty," Duterte told an audience of police officers. "If in the process you kill 1,000 persons because you were doing your duty ... I will protect you, and if they will try to impeach me, I will hurry up the process and we go out of the service together."

He was inaugurated at Manila's Malacanan presidential palace after winning power on a promise to eradicate crime and corruption in three to six months.

With the advent of the Muslim holy time of Eid'l Fitr, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed hope all Filipino Muslims would cooperate with the administration to achieve "lasting peace, political stability, economic growth and development" in the country.

He extended his greetings to the members of the Muslim community as they celebrate Eid'l Fitr or the culmination of the month-long observance of fasting for the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Duterte said this year's celebration of Eid, which marks the end of the Ramadan fasts, is "indeed timely and relevant, as the Filipino nation starts a fresh move towards peace, stability, development and progress under a new leadership."

"As everybody knows, fasting Ramadan teaches discipline. It instills in one's mind and heart the virtues of honesty, sincerity and commitment to his faith. It promotes understanding, peace, sympathy and love for fellow human beings," the President said.

Duterte is the first President from Mindanao, where most of the Filipino Muslims live.

He has had an immediate effect on world nickel markets, clamping down on production in the Philippines, where the mining has been, in his words, "a blot on the land". The rising price of a commodity that is at 20pc of its 2007 price, is a boon to other producers worldwide.

The Duterte Factfile

• Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte, also nicknamed Digong, is the 16th President of the Philippines since 2016. He is the first Mindanaon president.

• Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines and was Mayor of Davao City for seven terms, totalling more than 22 years.

• Known as "The Punisher", a vigilante group called the Davao Death Squad has been tied to Duterte by human rights organizations and are responsible for the extrajudicial killings of petty criminals, street children and petty drug dealers.

• Over 20 years, he turned Davao City from the "murder capital of the Philippines" to what tourism organisations now describe as "the most peaceful city in southeast Asia".

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