MANILA, Philippines—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte unabashedly renewed his threat to kill drug dealers in his final state of the nation speech on Monday, while defending his non-confrontational approach in the country’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. Duterte, 76, who won a six-year presidential term in 2016, is winding down his often-tumultuous presidency amid a raging pandemic, a battered economy, and a legacy overshadowed by his deadly campaign against illegal drugs that has set off complaints of mass murder before the International Criminal Court. While many expected him to focus on ways to combat the coronavirus, which has devastated the economy and worsened hunger and poverty, Duterte instead devoted most of a rambling, nearly three-hour televised speech to non-pandemic topics he has addressed repeatedly in the past. Duterte reiterated his threat to kill drug dealers, explaining it is tougher to fight criminals “the legal way,” while daring …
Philippine Leader Unabashedly Threatens to Kill Drug Dealers in Final State of the Nation Speech
July 27, 2021
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