Says this basic rule can avoid suspicions of extra-judicial killings

President Rodrigo Duterte should order police officers to just disarm suspects instead of killing them, former President Fidel Ramos advised amid reports of extra-judicial killings in the country.

Speaking on ANC's Beyond Politics on Tuesday, Ramos said authorities don't always have to kill the suspects they encounter.

"It is not always shoot to kill which is the mission of the law enforcer, it is shoot to disable," he said.

"How do you get an investigation carried out properly if the alleged suspect is dead? But if only wounded or disabled, then he can tell [you information]," he added.

If they can make this to be the "basic rule," Ramos said Duterte may even be able to avoid "a lot of suspicions about extrajudicial killings and violation of human rights."

Since Duterte assumed office this year, there have been at least 1,195 drug-related fatalities in the country and at least 697 killings by unidentified assailants.

Ramos, who was behind Duterte's candidacy, said that he was "really surprised" about the President's "focus" on the drug menace, which has put him at odds with several international organizations concerned about human rights violations.

"Although that has proven to be very effective, he has incurred the discomfiture of many of us... the normal, traditional, cherished values of justice for killings is not served," he said.

The former president likewise called out Duterte's sensitivity to criticism.

"If you try to bring it out, you are no good," he said, adding that Duterte should learn the value of working together.

"He is very hardworking but not everything is in [the] proper direction... [he should] include others by just consultation, then consensus can be formed," he said.

Earlier, Ramos had also said that the Philippines was "losing badly" during the first 100 days of the Duterte administration.