NEW YORK - The Human Rights Watch (HRW) Organization has raised the alarm over the increasing number of deaths related to the Philippine government's war on drugs.

"What we've seen in the last seven weeks since President [Rodrigo] Duterte came to office is an almost unprecedented scale of government-sanctioned bloodletting on the streets of Philippine cities," said Phelim Kine, Deputy Asia Director of HRW.

Human Rights Watch also believes that this is now a national emergency.

"President Rodrigo Duterte was not elected with a mandate to trample on the Constitution, to absolutely ignore and abuse human rights, and to threaten to take his country down the road of martial law," said Kine.

He said, the biggest concern is denying these suspected drug users and dealers basic universal human rights and legal process.

"President Duterte is a former lawyer. He should know these things, and for him to either profess ignorance about the idea of due legal process or to announce that he will not honor it," he said.

"This is a very disturbing development in terms of where the Philippines is going," he added.

Kine said, while Duterte has dismissed international critics, the Human Rights Watch is urging governments such as the United States and the European Union to make it clear to the Philippine president that his actions may carry a diplomatic or economic price "in terms of foreign aid, foreign support for various Philippine agencies and programs."

"This is something that it's something that is an obligation of the international community to support the Philippine people and to support their universal rights and freedoms, which the Philippine government right now is absolutely trampling and steamrolling," he said.

READ: Duterte says UN, critics can’t stop war on drugs

Kine fears, with the Philippine government's seeming inaction to these killings, the end is nowhere in sight.