Jailed drug user Bitoy Paras perks up when describing his support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on narcotics, an unlikely fan of a campaign that has left Filipinos deeply conflicted. No support for killingsParas’ seemingly paradoxical backing echoes that of millions of Filipinos, who polls say support the crackdown but not the thousands of slayings that are central to it. The President’s drug war — his signature initiative — helped bring him to power in mid-2016, promising to rid society of narcotics by any means necessary. Drug war proponents regularly point to these statistics as proof that the internationally condemned crackdown is the will of the people. The President recently addressed the thorny issue of the killings, delivering what critics called a clear admission they were suspect.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 14, 2018 23:15 UTC