Duterte ally Phillip Salvador says drug users should be rehabilitated, not killed

Filing Thursday his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator under the Rodrigo Duterte-led PDP-Laban, action star Phillip Salvador said he believed drug users should be rehabilitated, not killed. Aspiring to run for Senate on a platform prioritizing peace and order, Salvador mentioned in his candidacy speech that he would support programs for drug rehabilitation. Asked to clarify whether that means he opposes Duterte's bloody war on drugs, Salvador answered, "Ako po'y naniniwala sa ginawa niya kasi po nakabuti dito sa atin, pero ngayon po, ang sa akin naman, bigyan din ng pag-asang ma-rehab 'yung mga addicts." "Kasi po maski na mga addicts 'yan, meron pa ring pamilyang nagmamahal sa kanila. Bigyan din natin [sila] ng pag-asang makabalik sa lipunan," he explained. Salvador, who filed his COC alongside Duterte's chief drug war implementer and reelectionist senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, emphasized he objects to killing drug users. They should instead be arrested and be given a chance to undergo a rehabilitation program, he said. "Hulihin at ipa-rehab. Hulihin sila para mabigyan sila ng pag-asa. Ayoko nu'ng — hinuli ko, pinatay ko. Ayoko ng ganoon. Gusto ko mabigyan sila ng pag-asa. At tingin ko naman po, tama din ang aking sinasabi. Kung mali po, patawarin niyo ako," Salvador said. Dela Rosa, who came onstage after Salvador's turn on the podium, said his office had ignored attempts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reach him regarding its probe into Duterte's drug war. The senator recently suggested to his colleagues in the upper chamber of Congress to pass a measure banning the Philippines from cooperating with the ICC. Officially, 6,181 people were killed in Duterte's "war on drugs" but rights group say that up to 30,000 may have been killed, some innocent victims, and that corruption was allegedly rife among security forces that acted with impunity.