Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has revealed he gave orders to police to kill his eldest son, Paolo Duterte, if they were able to prove he has been involved in drug trafficking.
“My order was: If there’s any of my children into drugs, kill them, so the people can't say anything against me,” the President said.
Paolo, who is vice-mayor of the city of Davao, "was accused of being a member of a triad Chinese transnational organised crime syndicate during a hearing in the Philippine Senate on September 7,” The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Straits Times says he was “also earlier linked to a certain Davao Group, which had allegedly been facilitating drug smuggling at the Bureau of Customs”.
President Duterte continues to face criticism over his brutal crackdown on drug dealers and users. “In the space of a year, it's estimated that more than 12,000 people have been killed in the state-sanctioned war against drug users and dealers,” ABC says.
Political opponent Senator Leila de Lima has labelled the President a "beast" and a "sociopath". She is being held in detention in Manila on drug trafficking charges, which she says were invented by Duterte in order to silence her.
-
Democrats push for ICE accountabilityFeature U.S. citizens shot and violently detained by immigration agents testify at Capitol Hill hearing
-
The price of sporting gloryFeature The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off this week. Will Italy regret playing host?
-
Fulton County: A dress rehearsal for election theft?Feature Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is Trump's de facto ‘voter fraud’ czar
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
