Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo: EPA/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – In a speech marking 100 days in office, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stated to continue his crackdown on drug crime despite western criticisms.
In a speech delivered in his southern hometown of Davao city, Duterte mentioned international and domestic opponents who tried to remove him from presidency in an effort to end his anti-drug campaign.
He insisted that he would not be intimidated and that the campaign would carry on.
Official figures showed that more than 3,300 suspects of dealing in and using drugs have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. Philippine police has operated nearly 19,000 search operations for drug criminals and arrested over 18,000 suspects, while more than 700,000 people gave themselves up over drug-related crimes.
The campaign has been widely supported by the public, with an independent poll released on October 6 showing Filipinos’ high approval of Duterte's first 90 days as president.
On the other hand, many western countries criticised that the killing of drug crime suspects violate human rights.-VNA
