Duterte says children killed in Philippines drug war are 'collateral damage'

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has referred to innocent people and children as “collateral damage” in his war on drugs because police use automatic weapons when confronting criminals.

He gave a hypothetical example of an officer using an M16 rifle when dealing with a “gangster” who wields a pistol. “When they meet, they exchange fire. With the policeman and the M16, it’s one burst, brrr, and [he] hits 1,000 people there and they die.

“It could not be negligence because you have to save your life. It could not be recklessness because you have to defend yourself,” he said.

Duterte then compared the killing of innocents in the Philippines to US attacks in wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, where civilians are killed during airstrikes on militants.

“When you bomb a village you intend to kill the militants but you kill the children there ... Why do you say it is collateral damage to the west and to us it is murder?”

Philippine law enforcement and vigilante groups have killed more than 3,800 people since Duterte took office on 30 June, part of a war on drugs he says will save the country.

About 1,500 of those died in police operations but most killings were carried out by armed groups which Duterte has, at times, publicly encouraged. His critics say the president has allowed an atmosphere of lawlessness to develop in which criminal groups can settle vendettas with impunity.

Regardless, the president has lashed out at at any criticism from domestic rights organisations and foreign governments for his brutal crackdown.

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