Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte acted legally when he ordered law enforcement agencies to kill "armed" communist rebels, his spokesman Harry Roque said.
"The president's 'kill, kill, kill' order is legal because it was directed at armed rebels", Roque said, adding that an investigation would be launched.
Over the last weekend, Philippine police, backed by military forces, killed at least nine people in a series of raids against alleged communist insurgents. Their actions sparked outrage among human rights groups and Catholic organisations, who condemned the murder of people they assume were left-wing activists, not rebels.
In 2016, Duterte began peace negotiations with the New People’s Army shortly after taking office. During the talks, brokered by Norway, Duterte offered the communists several positions in the cabinet. The parties, however, failed to stop the conflict as each side accused the other of escalating violence.
Since winning the 2016 presidential election, Duterte has also carried out a so-called "war on drugs" that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Filipinos and raised accusations of extrajudicial executions by police.
