MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Philstar news outlet reported that the senator's condemnation of the killings was the rare instance of the parliamentarians from the majority bloc speaking against the authorities' activities.
9 August 2017, 17:47 GMT
The media added that 32 suspects had been killed during several simultaneous police operations in the country's Bulacan province on Tuesday. In another raid in Manila, at least 20 people have been killed, according to Thursday's news reports.
Duterte launched his large-scale anti-drug campaign known as the "war on drugs" in June 2016. The campaign has been widely criticized by international community and human rights watchdogs over brutality and extra-judicial killings. According to Human Rights Watch, over 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers have been killed by Philippine National Police officers or unknown gunmen since the launch of the policy.
