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\"PHOTO:
Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he answers a question during a press conference at the Malacanang palace in Manila on Jan. 30, 2017.
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The Philippine government has regularly defended its policies. In 2017, the Philippine National Police claimed that the war on drugs had led to the surrender of nearly 90,000 “drug pushers” to the authorities and a 26.45 percent reduction in the size of the total drug market.

\"PHOTO:
Erik De Castro/Reuters, FILE
PHOTO: Protesters hold placards and lit candles at the wake of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old high school student, who was among the people shot dead in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, in Caloocan city, Philippines, Aug. 21, 2017.
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A \"murderous war\"

Human Rights Watch, a nongovernmental organization, estimates that the war on drugs has claimed over 12,000 lives since Duterte took office, with over 2,500 deaths directly attributable to the national police force.

The International Drug Policy Consortium, a collection of NGOs campaigning to promote open debate on drug policy, told ABC News that the conviction of the three police officers does “not go far enough.”

“Duterte’s murderous war on drugs cannot be justified under any circumstances,” said Executive Director Ann Fordham. “Duterte claimed that his approach would make the Philippines safer and more secure but inciting extra-judicial killings with a flagrant disregard for due process and the rule of law does not contribute to the safety and well-being of communities.”

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Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images
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She added that the deadly drugs campaign was a “tactic to distract the public from intractable issues of poverty, unemployment, widespread corruption” by a President who has been called the \"Donald Trump of the East.”

“Most of those killed in the Philippines are people who are poor and marginalized,” she added.

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Rouelle/Xinhua/Newscom
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Jane Slater, a spokesperson for the charity Anyone’s Child, which supports families affected by the drug war and advocates for drug regulation, told ABC News that the Philippines is “at the front line of the global drug war.”

“Each one of these deaths is someone's child, it's ordinary people who are being killed in this war,” she said. “Duterte's war and the extrajudicial killings must stop if we want to protect people.”

However, the Philippine government maintains that police are not above the law.

“Abuses committed by the police have no place in an institution like the Philippine National Police,” said Panelo. “As we have always stressed, the conduct of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign is based on accountability. Therefore, we do not -- and we will never -- tolerate unjustified police violence, brutality or killing.”

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