On Amb. Kim’s statement that the ‘U.S. government supports the fight against drugs’

We from the Malaya Movement seek clarification from U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Amb. Sung Kim with regards to his statements in relation to the Philippine government’s notorious “fight against drugs.” In an article, dated February 21, 2019 “US backs PH’s drug war” from the Manila Bulletin, Philippine Presidential Spokesperson, Salvador Panelo mentioned that “the US ambassador said the US government supports the fight against drugs.”We are disturbed and deeply concerned about this statement allegedly made by the ambassador. Because by now, the world is already well aware of the nature of this so-called “fight against drugs.” It has already reached up to 30,000 deaths according the Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines. Dubbed as a “war on drugs,” it targeted mostly urban poor folks, who were slaughtered without due process. Genocide seems to be more of an accurate label to the Philippine government’s campaign. As US taxpayers, we also want to express our deep concern regarding the continuing use of our hard earned tax dollars, $185 million of it, to support the brutal regime of Rodrigo Duterte. We believe that it is our moral duty to speak up and demand that our tax dollars be spent towards more just purposes, such as funding for social services here in our communities. We demand an end to our tax dollars being sent to the Philippines to fund these human rights violations.We would like to request clarification and a public statement from the Ambassador Sung Kim on this issue. In line with this, we demand for a US Senate hearing on the human rights violations committed by the Philippine Military, Police and other state agencies.