Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (center), accompanied by the Chief of Staff, General Ricardo Visaya (right), walk behind soldiers carrying a wreath at the National Heroes’ Cemetery, as part of commemorations for National Heroes’ Day in Manila on Aug 29. (AFP)

MANILA, Philippines, Aug 29, (Agencies): Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday that his bloody anti-drug campaign that has left nearly 1,800 people dead does not amount to genocide, but that he’s ready to go to jail to defend his men from lawsuits. Duterte drew a line between the widespread killings sparked by his anti-drug war and the brutality under Syrian President Bashar Assad and the atrocities committed by Islamic State group extremists. “Genocide? Who did I kill? I did not kill any child. I did not drop barrel (bombs) just like Assad,” Duterte said in a speech to mark the Philippines’ national heroes’ day before war veterans, ambassadors and top officials.

“I’m fighting ... criminals.” Referring to Islamic State group militants, whom he called “idiots”. At least 1,779 drug suspects have been killed in Duterte’s campaign, including 712 who were gunned down in clashes with police, with the rest being slain in still-unclear circumstances, the national police chief told a Senate inquiry last week. At least 3.7 million Filipinos have become addicted to methamphetamine, a prohibited stimulant known locally as shabu, with about 600,000 drug users and dealers surrendering to authorities, Duterte said.

Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the spate of killings, and UN-appointed human rights experts warned steps should be taken to halt the violence, adding that the government and law enforcers could be held responsible. “Claims to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings,” UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard said in a statement this month.

WorsenedThe 71-year-old Duterte built a name with his deadly crime-busting style as a longtime mayor of southern Davao city. He described his campaign against drugs as a harsh war that would involve the military because the problem has worsened into a crisis and claimed the lives of law enforcers. “We might still end up like the South American countries and their fractured governments. I am declaring war,” he told an audience at a national heroes’ cemetery Monday that included ambassadors, war veterans and security officials.

The drug menace, he said, “has infected every nook and corner of this country involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay (village) captains” and policemen. Duterte on Monday promised rewards running to tens of thousands of dollars for information leading to the capture of police officers protecting drug syndicates and warned corrupt officials they would face “a day of reckoning”.

In a National Heroes Day speech, Duterte said there would be no let-up in a “war on drugs” in which — according to police figures — more than 1,900 people have been killed since he came to power two months ago. Police say the toll of about 36 people a day is a result of drug dealers resisting arrest or gang feuds.

Duterte railed against critics who have complained that the poor who trade drugs to make a living are being targeted by the police, but added that army generals, city mayors, governors and police involved in the drug trade must also be stopped. “I consider the fight against drugs a war, there is a crisis in this country, it is drugs ... it has infected every nook and corner,” he said in the speech to retired and serving soldiers, government officials and foreign diplomats. Singling out corrupt policemen known as “ninjas”, who take pay-offs from drug lords, Duterte said he was placing a 2 million peso ($43,000) bounty on their heads, telling their colleagues to “squeal on your friends”. Duterte, who won a May election on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers, last month named about 160 officials, judges, police and soldiers who he said were protecting drug traffickers or selling drugs in their communities.

EnsureThe United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said last week it was “deeply concerned” about the reports of extra-judicial drug killings and it urged Duterte’s government to ensure that law-enforcement efforts “comply with its human rights obligation”. Philippine police, heavily criticised by rights groups for killing hundreds of drug dealers and users, are using a comedy puppet of Rodrigo Duterte to get the president’s war on drugs message across to Manila school children.

The Philippine National Police began the show, which also features a puppet of police chief Ronald dela Rosa, in Manila schools this month, the latest step in the anti-drug drive of Duterte, nicknamed “the Punisher”, who won the presidency in May based on a platform of wiping out narcotics. “I hate drugs, don’t do drugs because you are the hope of the country,” the Duterte puppet told children at an impoverished community near a large landfill in Manila. Police have also employed a smiling, dancing mascot that looks like dela Rosa to spread the message at other youth events in the Filipino capital, with a comic book also commissioned to encourage children to stay away from drugs