Duterte foe ousted from probe into Philippine killings

The leading critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drug crime was ousted Monday as head of a Senate investigation into the campaign, which has cost thousands of lives.

Senator Leila de Lima said her probe into the surge of killings since Duterte took office on June 30 had been derailed after his allies voted to remove her as head of the Senate justice committee.

De Lima, a former justice secretary and human rights chief, had launched the Senate probe.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) delivers a speech before members of the Scout Rangers regiment at a military training camp in San Miguel town, Bulacan province, north of Manila, on September 15, 2016 ©Ted Aljibe (AFP/File)

It heard explosive allegations last week from a former hitman that Duterte ordered hundreds of killings when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao and even shot one victim himself.

The government described the allegations as lies.

On Monday pro-Duterte senators who control the legislative chamber charged that de Lima's investigation was ruining the country's image and voted to remove her as head of the justice committee.

De Lima blamed Duterte for her ousting, telling ABS-CBN television: "I know I will continue to be crucified because the president himself wants that... ever since I initiated the inquiry into his extra-judicial killings."

"I don't know what will happen now, whether this inquiry into the extra-judicial killings will at all be credible," she said, warning the other senators would try to conceal the president's culpability.

On Sunday Duterte asked for a six-month extension for his war on drugs, saying there were too many people involved in the narcotics trade.

He won May elections by a landslide, after vowing to kill 100,000 criminals and rid the country of illegal drugs in six months.

- Street killings -

"I did not realise how severe and how serious the drug menace was in this republic until I became president," Duterte, 71, told reporters late Sunday in Davao.

Launching his crackdown was like letting "a worm out of the can" he said, adding that he wanted "a little extension of maybe another six months" to try and finish the job.

"Even if I wanted to I cannot kill them all," Duterte said, adding a new police list of drug suspects would be unveiled.

Among the apparent victims of the war of drugs was a daughter of the late British baron Lord Moynihan, police said Monday.

Maria Aurora Moynihan, 45, was shot by unknown attackers who left her by the side of a Manila street on September 10.

Her killers left a cardboard sign accusing Moynihan of being a "drug pusher for celebrities", Chief Inspector Tito Jay Cuden told AFP.

The victim was on bail while facing charges of possession of illegal drugs following a February 2013 suburban Manila police raid.

In a speech in Davao late Monday, Duterte brushed off any possible investigations into his crime war, which has attracted strong international criticism.

"Whether there will be a thousand investigations or (UN chief) Ban Ki-moon comes here, I don't give a shit," he said.

"I don't care whether there is a thousand hearings everywhere... I will not stop until the last pushers on the streets are fully exterminated," he said.

"Congress can have their own show. Go ahead, be my guest," he said dismissively.

Roman Catholic church bishops warned Monday that giving Duterte an extension would result in more summary killings.

"In the campaign, he categorically said that the drug problem would be solved in six months or he will step down, But of course he is not a man of (his) word," Manila bishop Broderick Pabillo was quoted as saying on the bishops's website.

An activist holds a banner in front of Philippine National Police headquarters during a protest condemning extra-judicial killings related to President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against drugs, in Manila, on August 24, 2016 ©Noel Celis (AFP/File)