2K Dead in New Filipino Prez’s Drug War

About 2,000 people have been killed by government officials in the war on drugs launched by new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Reuters reports. The extrajudicial deaths have all occurred in the last seven weeks—averaging about 36 per day. “We are not butchers,” Director-General Ronald dela Rosa testified to a senate panel Tuesday, adding that about half of those deaths were still under investigation. “This has a chilling effect,” said one senator. “We are all concerned about the number of deaths, by any language this is alarming.” During Duterte’s controversial presidential campaign, he promised to kill drug traffickers. Reuters reports that Duterte has told lawmakers not to interfere with the movement, at risk of death.