US lawmakers warn extrajudicial killings in Filipino President Duterte’s drug war could affect aid
A senior US diplomat is cautioning Duterte against more anti-US posturing
As the body count mounts in the Philippines’ deadly war on drugs, and its combative president’s rhetoric plumbs new depths, the mood in Washington toward a key Asian ally is hardening.
Influential US lawmakers are warning that the extrajudicial killings in the drug war – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday compared it to the Holocaust – could affect American aid.
“I think it would be a serious mistake in a democratic country like the Philippines to underestimate the power of the public’s affinity for the US. That’s people power,” Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said.
I think it would be a serious mistake in a democratic country like the Philippines to underestimate the power of the public’s affinity for the US. That’s people power
Russel did not draw a direct comparison, but past Philippine presidents have been toppled by popular protests dubbed “people power”, including former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in 1986.