President Rodrigo Duterte
Presidential Communications Operations Office
Speaking to a group of Filipino workers returning from overseas a year ago, the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, told them, "If you lose your job, I'll give you one. Kill all the drug addicts." In June, he said, "If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful." Some eight or nine thousand Filipinos have died in extra-judicial killings. Now, President Trump has invited Duterte to visit the White House, after a phone call described as "warm" by Trump's aides. Phelim Kine, deputy director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, considers the controversial invitation.