Third Philippine teen killed, threatening to turn sentiment turns against President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war
Police said they found 14-year-old boy’s body about 70km from his home, his face wrapped in packing tape and his body bearing 30 stab wounds
A 14-year-old boy whose body was found with dozens of stab wounds is the latest atrocity in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, critics said on Wednesday as outrage built over a trio of teen killings.
The National Bureau of Investigation announced it would probe the murder of the boy, who politicians and rights groups said appeared to be the third teenager murdered as part of Duterte’s drug war in the past month.
Filipinos have mostly backed Duterte’s drug war even as critics warned the thousands of people killed in the crackdown may amount to a crime against humanity. But the deaths of the three boys have triggered rare street protests and highlighted concerns about alleged police abuse.
“Under President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, there is a pattern of killing young and poor people, particularly innocent minors. There is a policy to kill,” opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said as she voiced outrage at the death of Reynaldo de Guzman.
Fellow opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan said De Guzman was among more than 30 boys who had been killed in Duterte’s drug war.
“The daily killings are not the solution to illegal drugs,” Pangilinan added.
Under President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, there is a pattern of killing young and poor people
Police said they found de Guzman’s body on Wednesday in a creek about 70km from his home. His face was wrapped in packing tape and his body bore 30 stab wounds, they said.
