Manila's top diplomat has accused Human Rights Watch of deceiving the international community by making it appear "that the Philippines has become the Wild, Wild West of Asia where we just kill people left and right."

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano demanded an apology Friday from the U.S.-based rights group for reporting a larger number of drug suspects killed in President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs to back up a statement that human rights in the Philippines "is at its worst."

Cayetano said Human Rights Watch falsely asserted that more than 12,000 people have been killed in the government's crackdown when the national police have recorded 3,968 deaths of suspects in more than 80,600 anti-drug operations since Duterte took power in 2016 until last November.