(From Reuters)
Philippine senators on Monday ousted Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, from the leadership of a panel investigating drug-related killings, squashing a rare domestic challenge to the bloody crackdown.
Duterte’s war on drugs, the key plank of a poll campaign likened to that of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, has claimed more than 3,800 lives from July 1 to Sept. 18.
The high toll and mysterious circumstances of some of the killings have alarmed rights groups, the United States and United Nations, whose concerns have drawn angry rebukes from Duterte.
The justice and human rights panel, chaired by former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, was due to hear testimony on Thursday from a self-confessed assassin who last week alleged Duterte had personally ordered hits and shot a man dead during his more than two decades as mayor of southern Davao City. Read More