MANILA • The United States government is "cautiously optimistic" about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs after it saw a decline in "extrajudicial killings", a senior US narcotics official has said.
Washington has shifted away millions of dollars in funding for law enforcement from a drug control programme by the Philippine National Police since the bloody anti-narcotics campaign started in July 2016.
But there are positive signs and the US remains supportive of the Philippines' effort to battle illicit drugs, said Mr James Walsh, deputy assistant state secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
"I would describe the United States as being cautiously optimistic," Mr Walsh told a telephone news conference late on Tuesday. "Many folks have been tracking the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and the trends are going down, so there is some encouragement in that we are seeing some of our human rights training working."
Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in shoot-outs with the police in raids and sting operations since Mr Duterte came to power in July 2016, government data shows.
But human rights groups put the figure higher, accusing the police of executing drug users and peddlers in cold blood.
Mr Duterte's spokesman, Mr Harry Roque, said yesterday that there were no "extrajudicial killings" in the war on drugs.
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4,000
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Number of people who have been killed in shoot-outs with the police in raids and sting operations since Mr Duterte came to power in July 2016, according to government data. But human rights groups put the figure higher, accusing the police of executing drug users and peddlers in cold blood.
But he welcomed the comments as a reflection of Washington's growing appreciation of the campaign's benefits. "These efforts are anchored in respect for human rights, cognisant of our obligation to protect our people's right to life and to live in peace and security," Mr Roque said in a statement.
Philippine police resumed their anti-drug campaign on Monday with visits to the homes of users and dealers to convince them to surrender, and police chief Ronald Dela Rosa offered an assurance it would be free of violence. Director-general Dela Rosa said there were no deaths reported in the first 24 hours after operations resumed.
Mr Walsh also said Washington has been cooperating with Cambodia, China, Indonesia and the Philippines and has seen traffickers now use bitcoin to flood the US market with synthetic drugs from China and Mexico. But he gave no details of the use of virtual currencies in the narcotics trade.
Despite the senior US official's comments, human rights group Amnesty International warned that people should stay vigilant and keep pressing for an investigation into rights abuses.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
