DILG: No death squads, just volunteersMANILA, Philippines - In an effort to involve more citizens in its campaign against illegal drugs, the government is considering taking a page from the playbook of a defunct anti-communist vigilante group based in Davao City – the Alsa Masa. He stressed it is volunteerism and not vigilantism which the government intends to foster in invoking the concept of Alsa Masa, a group associated with death squads in Davao. This is the mandate of the President in his campaign against illegal drugs,” Sueño told the appropriations committee headed by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles. “We will make sure that this is fully organized, although this is still in the developing concept stage.”The Alsa Masa, founded by the late Jun Pala, became notorious in the mid-1980s for targeting communists and their sympathizers in Davao City and other parts of Mindanao. The Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs has claimed more than 2,000 lives since he assumed the presidency on June 30.

Source: Philippine Star September 01, 2016 16:16 UTC