International Business Times: Duterte’s war on drugs is fanning the flames of the burgeoning HIV epidemic in the Philippines
“…Since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in May 2016 after campaigning on a platform of zero-tolerance against drug pushers and addicts, charities are worried that the number of new HIV cases due to drug injection may explode in the next few years as the government moves away from public health concerns to adopt more repressive policies…” (Surugue, 1/5).

The Lancet: Philippines president continues his brutal war on drugs
“…[U]pwards of 5,000 Filipinos [have been] shot dead by police or vigilantes since Duterte came to power at the end of June, 2016. Duterte earned a name for himself with similarly ruthless policies as mayor of the southern city of Davao on Mindanao island, where he has admitted that he personally killed suspected lawbreakers. He has promised to restore law and order not only with his crackdown on crime but also by restoring the death penalty. But his brutal approach has appalled international bodies from Amnesty International to the U.N., and drawn international condemnation not seen since the days of late former president Ferdinand Marcos…” (McCall, 1/7).