Manila — Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Thursday that the military would take a leading role in his deadly war on drugs, while vowing to kill more traffickers and addicts. "I’m taking in the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and raising the issue of drugs as a national security threat, so that I will call on all the armed forces to assist," Duterte said, while promising to kill more "son of a bitch" drug addicts. His comments were the first following a report from Amnesty International that the killings in the drug war, in which more than 6,500 people have died in seven months, may amount to crimes against humanity. They were also the clearest signal of Duterte’s plans for the drug war, after he admitted this week the police force that had taken the leading role was "corrupt to the core" and said they would no longer be allowed to take part. Duterte’s moves against the police he had entrusted as his frontline troops came after series of scandals emerged over ...
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