Three South Koreans found shot dead in Philippines amid string of killings

President Rodrigo Duterte exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on his War on Drugs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UahPaXZ7HVo

Kuya 808

Unfortunately, Duterte proved that he is not the one. I don't think cutting ties with Philippines's allies will solve our issues when it's obvious that we need our allies more than they need us. All the people who say that we don't need US and EU are over emotional and ignorant and Duterte is one of them. How can a leader let his people become Divided and do nothing because of his pride? HE works for ALL Filipinos , not only for those who 16 million who voted for him, He needs to adjust and compromise to the other 80 million people who didn't vote for him. I tried giving this guy a chance, But nah... he quickly proved that he is driving the Philippines towards a hard brick wall.

@noypikantoku

I agree 100%, poverty and corruption, including the justice system, are the foundation that so much of the misery in the Philippines is built on. If those two issues could be resolved everything else would naturally fall in place and there would be a fundamental and positive change within Philippine society. Unfortunately, oppressive poverty and systemic corruption have a sinister inertia all their own, there are people who profit from it and are perfectly happy with the status quo. When some of those people are members of the political and economic elite, real change is something that is hard to come by.

Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. Sometimes it has to get really crazy before the push is made to overcome the stifling inertia and things start rolling. Who knows, maybe Duterte will prove to be the catalyst for that push.

Kuya 808

this has been the situation in the Philippines for a very long time. It has been the situation under every Philippine Presidency since the days of Ferdinand Marcos. Duterte did not create the situation.

Indeed the problem was already there long time ago, because the government keeps on ignoring the basic root cause of the issue and instead push their own hidden agendas.Instead of solving drugs why not solve POVERTY? Instead of killing suspected drug users why not remodel and strengthenThe Philippine Justice system? We don't need to go any further, just focus on solving these 2 issues and things will change.Indeed Duterte didn't create it, but his current solution is adding fuel to the fire and obviously not the solution to the problem. What we need is a strong, fair and efficient Justice System not extra judicial killings and iron fist.

The ghost of Marcos is probably saying, "Man! That Duterte's one bad hombre!"

KayeYamanouchi

Noypikantoku, and how can you assure it is connected too? I don't read any part in the article that the victims were drug addicts so why mention President Duterte. And too bad, JT, didn't include the thousands of drug addicts that surrenders in just 4 months too but it will be another blind issue.

As I said Duterte gave a motive to the people and media, If he could have just kept his mouth shut and didn't create this frenzy making statements like dumping thousands of corpse in Manila Bay and didn't urge people to kill any suspected criminals they know, maybe this news will come out differently, even his police chief Bato made a statement asking people to burn the house of any suspected Drug dealers they know. With these terrible things going on now in the Philippines you cannot blame the media and the people to connect every crime now to this bloody sadistic campaign. Murderers can now just use this opportunity to kill as they can just link everything to Duterte, that is the danger that Duterte didn't think about as he is a very reckless man. He promised to stop crime, but what is happening? It actually became worse, 3,000 deaths and still rising. So are you suggesting to stop reporting the terrible things Duterte is doing because he is actually doing some good as well? It should not be a one way or the other deal, he should do ALL his job according to what the constitution says. We all don't want drugs and crime, but he needs to do it properly and mosty legit!

Hiro S NobumasaOCT. 14, 2016 - 01:17AM JST Japan should help the Philippines in this regard because the UN, USA and the Euro club are only good in criticizing.

They are. In 2015, Japan contributed $2.6 billion in foreign aid to Philippines. Japan contributes more than anybody else.

There is a pretty high level of criminality in the Philippines and crimes against foreigners, including murder, are commonplace. Expats and tourist alike are the target of all kinds of nefarious intent, robbery, extortion, assault, murder and just about every scam that has been invented by man. And the victims come from all over, Americans, Aussies, Germans, Japanese, Koreans, even Canadians! A common perception in the Philippines is that all foreigners, especially white and east Asian foreigners, are rich. (But it's not just the PI, you go to any fundamentally corrupt third world nation and you will find the same thing.) When you have as wide a gap between the haves and the have nots as they do in the Philippines, coupled with a general lawlessness, sooner or later, somebody is going to get killed.

The overall sketchiness of the Philippines also serves to attract sketchy people. You can find all kinds of criminals from all over the world living and/or doing business there. Lots of crooks on the lam and laying low, too. Even Mohamed Atta, of 911 fame, hung out in the Philippines while planning the attack. If an expat criminal is doing business in the Philippines, odds are that they are doing business with Filipino criminals. And in that world, sooner or later, somebody is going to get killed.

The bottom line is, the Philippines is a corrupt, third world country and it is a dangerous place. It is especially dangerous for foreigners but it's worthy to note that this has been the situation in the Philippines for a very long time. It has been the situation under every Philippine Presidency since the days of Ferdinand Marcos. Duterte did not create the situation.

For the first time in the Philippines a President is finally taking the battle head on with the narco -politicians , drug lords and their police protectors .

Almost 700,000 thousand drug pushers have surrendered alive and their rehab clinics are totally swamped.

Japan should help the Philippines in this regard because the UN, USA and the Euro club are only good in criticizing.

Only Israel offered to share their help and share their experience .

Shinzo should reinforce such a positive effort by Tel Aviv and open Japan's expertise in fighting drugs .

-1

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has waged a ruthless anti-crime campaign since taking office on June 30 in which more than 3,600 people have died in police operations and alleged vigilante killings.

Hi JT, are you sure that its all related to police operation? Don't just rely news you saw on Philippine television, they are all bias. Try to investigate / search on your own. Media now blame ALL I mean ALL killings (use your imagination) to the anti-crime campaign of President Du30.

I do agree ... head shakes for the false news.

There is one difference between Deterte Harry and Trump and that is one has been elected. Both speak the same retoric, both ride on the back of fear and hate to improve their popularity and Both are total ask wholes.

That is TRULY one dangerous country. < What a JOKE. I spent TWO WEEKS in the Philippines last year (Christmas in Bagio / New Years in Manila. I went everywhere from Manila all the way to Bagio. I NEVER saw or experienced ANYTHING to freak me out or put me on the defensive. If you MAKE yourself a target, then, well, you're a TARGET. Wearing GOLD, acting BETTER than others, make a SPECTACLE of yourself...guess what ? I believe this may have something to do with "Business", either that, or these three were obviously making themselves out to be easy Prey.

That is truly one dangerous country. I guess K-pop is not very popular there. Stay safe Korean friends.

Noypikantoku, and how can you assure it is connected too? I don't read any part in the article that the victims were drug addicts so why mention President Duterte. And too bad, JT, didn't include the thousands of drug addicts that surrenders in just 4 months too but it will be another blind issue.

Vhon Ibanez

I don't think it needs to be connected to PH President doesn't make sense.

How can you assure that it is not connected? yes it may not but it is also possible,that's the point, you can't really blame people to speculate now after these series of sudden murder cases of thousands of people (including foreigners) in a span of 4 months. Who created this ghost then? isn't it Duterte himself?

All someone has to do is suggest a link to crime, true or not, and bop bop, the death squads are after them. Revenge for an argument can be a powerful motive.

South Korean citizens have been killed each year since 2013, South Korean media said.

Just stick to it. I don't think it needs to be connected to PH President doesn't make sense.

sn00z3

Don't just rely news you saw on Philippine television, they are all bias.

a typical DU30 apologist's statement, I agree on the part that this could not be related to DU30's dirty campaign, but then I realized, what you are suggesting JT is the same point as what we, opposers of extra judicial killings are fighting for. How can you assure that all the ALLEGED people killed by DU30's campaign are real drug dealers or criminals?

Media now blame ALL I mean ALL killings (use your imagination) to the anti-crime campaign of President Du30.

i return the question to you. Can DU30's camp and supporters do their proper and reliable investigations first before they blame and kill these alleged people if they truly are involved in drug trafficking? And how can you also assure that the killings of these korean nationals is not related to Duterte's campaign? who gave the media a motive? isn't it Duterte himself? that's the downside of this campaign, all looneys now will ride along and use this opportunity to kill as Duterte has their blessing.

It's funny how you DU30 supporters accuse Phil. media "BIAS" when they report negative actions done by Duterte. When it's very clear and the whole world can see that these statements and behavior were all done by Duterte himself. Did you guys reacted the same when these same mainstream media groups reported negative things about the previous administrations? I think It's YOU du30 supporters who are bias and not the media.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has waged a ruthless anti-crime campaign since taking office on June 30 in which more than 3,600 people have died in police operations and alleged vigilante killings.

Hi JT, are you sure that its all related to police operation? Don't just rely news you saw on Philippine television, they are all bias. Try to investigate / search on your own. Media now blame ALL I mean ALL killings (use your imagination) to the anti-crime campaign of President Du30.

therougou: "Do we know if this is even related to the crime war? There are a lot of Koreans in the Philippines, and they are not very liked by the locals."

That's the point -- it doesn't matter if they are related to the crime war or not when murdered -- they can be tied to it after the fact and no one there with any power would bat an eye.

Do we know if this is even related to the crime war? There are a lot of Koreans in the Philippines, and they are not very liked by the locals.

Duterte's private little war continues. Doesn't matter if these people were innocent, or somehow actually tied to crime, they were murdered with his approval, and can be painted as criminals who deserved it either way (in his mind). Hopefully this puts SK on the list of countries that decide the man, and the nation under him, are not worth the trouble in relations until he steps down.