Unperturbed by global criticism of his brutal war on drugs, President Duterte on Thursday called for an “integrated, drug-free ASEAN community” as his Cabinet officials sought to ease fears that the crackdown on narcotics had made the Philippines a dangerous country.

Addressing the World Economic Forum on ASEAN here, Mr. Duterte, this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), focused on how the regional bloc could achieve inclusive growth and economic integration.

As in most of his speeches, Mr. Duterte called attention to the “scourge of illegal drugs that threatens our youth and the future of our societies.”

Then he called for commitment to make Southeast Asia a drug-free region.

“We need to take a committed stand to dismantle and destroy the illegal drug trade apparatus,” he said, emphasizing the need to keep the youth away from drugs.

“We must reaffirm our commitment to realise a drug-free ASEAN community.”

Earlier on Thursday, however, Mr. Duterte’s Cabinet officials found themselves answering questions from journalists about the killings of thousands of people in his war on drugs and whether the crackdown had scared away foreign investments.

The forum came four days after 45 of the 47 member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) demanded an end to extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs during a review of the Philippines’ human rights record in Geneva.

Many of the council members sought an international investigation of the killings.

The Cabinet officials who attended the briefing on Dutertenomics-or the administration’s Build, Build, Build programme- were Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, incoming Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella and Bases Conversion and Development Authority president Vince Dizon.

War on drugs

After their brief presentation on how the Duterte administration planned to achieve a high middle-income status for the Philippines in the next six years, a German journalist asked them how the war on drugs “might lead to lesser foreign direct investments.”

Frederic Spohr, a Thailand-based correspondent for the German newspaper Handelsblatt, said German businessmen were worried about the war on drugs and the rule of law in the Philippines.

Spohr later told the Inquirer that he had written a report about how chambers of commerce in Germany cautioned businessmen about investing in the Philippines because of the perception of instability.

Repeating his remarks in the UNHRC review in Geneva on Monday, Cayetano gave assurance that “the protection of human rights is paramount” for the Philippine government and that “the campaign against drugs is a campaign to protect the human rights” of the Filipinos.

He accused the international media of not showing the full picture in their reports on Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

“They only show the rhetoric of the President when he is mad at certain criticisms against the Philippines,” Cayetano said.

“They don’t show the statements where he says, ‘Police cannot abuse and that they are worse than criminality.'”

He said only close to 3,000 people had been killed in drug-related police operations and that the higher numbers reported by the media referred to “homicides.”

“For those of you who are hearing that there are 7,000 deaths in the Philippines, that’s not true,” he said.

Come to the Philippines

Cayetano invited the foreign journalists to visit the Philippines to see things for themselves.

Lopez claimed that the crackdown on narcotics had resulted in a sense of safety in Philippine communities.

He also claimed that business and consumer confidence had gone up.

Moderator Adrian Monck asked the Philippine officials about how Mr. Duterte had been “incredibly outspoken” and how such “rhetoric” had drawn support from some investors but also resulted in the “alienation” of others.

Cusi responded, but did not answer the question directly, instead saying that the Philippines was “a nation in a hurry to improve the lives of Filipinos.”

Lopez said the Duterte administration was not focusing on drugs.

“That’s why we are having Dutertenomics,” he said.

“Peace and order has to be the basic foundation.”

Pernia said Dutertenomics was about “building fast, on schedule and getting things done quickly because the President is impatient and so are the ministers.”

$160-B investment needed

The Philippine officials said an investment of $160 billion (S$226 billion) would enable the Philippines to achieve a high middle income status by the end of Mr. Duterte’s term.

They said the Philippines could eliminate poverty and become one of the 30 largest economies in the world “within a generation.”

The World Bank considers the Philippines a lower middle income country.

“We expect clarity on the part of the international community to banish misconceptions,” Pernia told the Inquirer later.

Asked how the briefing for investors went, he said, “Nothing is perfect and no briefing or examination is perfect.”

A man caught for allegedly raping and robbing a Hong Kong student has killed himself in a police cell yesterday (May 11).

A police source told South China Morning Post (SCMP) that the suspect managed to obtain a computer cable within Sau Mau Ping police station. He was moved to another cell after he meddled with the fire duct inside his cell, setting off a fire alarm and sprinklers in the wee hours of the morning.

It was only at about 9am that officers found him dead in the new cell, hanging from the cable he had stolen.

Ironically, it was also a cable – for a mobile phone, that the rape suspect had used to tie up his victim with before allegedly raping her on Sunday morning (May 7).

In the incident that triggered a police manhunt, the 22-year-old woman was held hostage for a few hours in a hidden flowerbed area under a bridge in Kowloon Bay after she confronted him for snatching her iPhone earlier while she was walking home.

Although she shouted for help as she gave chase, nobody responded as the area was deserted since it was already past midnight.

The suspect forced her to reveal her bank passwords before fleeing with her phone, two bank cards and an identity card, reported Apple Daily. She managed to free herself a few hours later.

The police managed to zero in on a suspect after getting a description from the victim even though he was wearing dark glasses throughout that fateful night.

Surnamed Lam, the 48-year-old was arrested at nearby Po Tat Estate on Wednesday, after officers monitored him for a whole day, reported SCMP.

Reportedly unemployed, Lam had at least 20 prior convictions for non-sexual crimes such as car theft and drugs.

His death might have ended a criminal case, but it has opened another case for the coroner and also a can of worms for the authorities.

Questions have been raised on security loopholes or negligence, that could have made it easy for the rape suspect to kill himself

Police commissioner Stephen Lo swiftly called for a probe to determine if officers had followed procedures, such as carrying out a body search and inspecting the detention cell, SCMP reported.

The news site said there have been several cases of suspects committing or attempting suicide in police cells in recent years.

chenj@sph.com.sg

TAIPEI – A Taiwanese man who decapitated a three-year-old girl in public on a busy Taipei street escaped the death penalty Friday as he was sentenced to life in prison.

Wang Ching-yu, 34, had pleaded guilty to killing the child in a crime that shocked the generally peaceful island after overpowering her mother near a metro station.

He beheaded the girl with a kitchen knife as horrified bystanders tried to stop him.

Prosecutors had called the crime “extremely cold-blooded” and called for the death penalty.

But judge Tsai Shou-hsun told a Taipei district court Friday that he would instead be jailed for life as he had a “mental handicap”.

Wearing black-framed glasses, a white T-shirt and track pants, his head shaved, Wang remained calm as he listened to the verdict, responding: “I understand”.

The victim’s family were not in court.

Read also: Gaps in Taiwan’s mental health care

Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus.

Executions are reserved for serious crimes such as aggravated murder.

Some politicians and rights groups have called for its abolition, but various opinion surveys show majority support for the death penalty.

After the decapitation in March last year, hundreds of Taiwanese, many dressed in black and wearing stickers reading “Death penalty is necessary,” called for Wang to be executed.

The killing came less than a year after the throat of an eight-year-old girl was slit in her school restroom in Taipei.

It sparked widespread public anger and fresh debate about capital punishment.

Prosecutors in Wang’s case said during court hearings that he should be put to death as a psychiatric report had found him to be mentally sound enough to be responsible for his actions.

But his defence had argued that Wang suffered from a mental disorder, so should be given a limited-term imprisonment or sent for treatment, local media said.

Wang had told the court that he hallucinated he was a Chinese emperor from Sichuan province and believed that killing the girl would bring him concubines to “carry on his family line,” according to reports.

Wang was arrested at the scene of the crime.

Police said he had previously been arrested for drug-related crimes.

He was attacked by an angry mob while in custody.

Prosecutors said blood tests showed he was not under the influence of drugs at the time of the crime.