Philippines summoned Chinese envoy over drug smuggling

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – The Philippines’ top diplomat revealed Wednesday that the foreign affairs department had summoned the Chinese ambassador over reports that a vast amount of illegal drugs in the archipelago were smuggled from China.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. was quoted by GMA News as saying that Manila would also send a diplomatic note verbale to Beijing as the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte continues its campaign against the illegal trade.

"We will be issuing a note verbale to pursue this on a more aggressive note," he said during an organizational meeting between his department and the Senate.

China’s ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, was summoned Tuesday after national police chief Gen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa told a Senate inquiry into reported extrajudicial killings under anti-drug operations that most illegal narcotics and their raw materials came from China.

Dela Rosa also revealed that more than 1,800 drug suspects had been killed, over 700 during police operations while over 1,000 killings were under investigation. He has said that most of the deaths were from "non-police operations" which authorities blame on drug syndicates.

Yasay said Wednesday that Philippine and Chinese authorities could cooperate in the anti-drug campaign.

"I had asked him [Chinese ambassador] for his clarifications explaining this matter [on drugs coming from China],” he said. “And he indicated that time, the other day, that China would come up with a joint operation with our forces on this regard."

Duterte won the May 9 election on a crime-fighting campaign, and has pledged to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months.

While human rights groups have expressed concern that violence is quickly getting out of control and people are ignoring laws in apprehending suspects, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia last month showed that 91 percent of respondents said they trust Duterte.