Duterte and his quixotic war on drugs

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has remained an enduring fodder of international news since he was sworn in as the country's 16th president in June 2016. Despite massive criticisms from within the Philippines and overseas, he seems intent on taking his country down an untrodden, dangerous, lawless and bloody path. The president's relentless campaign to eliminate drugs in the country has resulted in a rapidly rising number of deaths occurring on a daily basis. A little more than six months into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, records show that his anti-drug war campaign has resulted in over 7,000 deaths, or an average of more than 30 people summarily executed in extrajudicial fashion every day. The populist president, whilst otherwise hypersensitive to criticism, remains unfazed by almost universal condemnation by the international community over the extrajudicial killings in the country.