The US government is "cautiously optimistic" on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs after it saw a decline in "extrajudicial killings," a US senior narcotics official said. "Many folks have been tracking the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and the trends are going down, so there is some encouragement that we are seeing in some of our human rights training working." But human rights groups put the figure higher, accusing police of executing drug users and peddlers in cold blood. On Wednesday, Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, said there were no "extrajudicial killings" in the war on drugs. "These efforts are anchored on respect for human rights, cognizant of our obligation to protect our people's right to life and to live in peace and security," Roque said in a statement.

Source: dna January 31, 2018 08:48 UTC