Meet the Nightcrawlers of Manila: A night on the front lines of the Philippines' war on drugs
Los Angeles Times
When Escandor began working the graveyard shift in 2014, he mainly covered fires and car accidents. Then, this June, Rodrigo Duterte came to power as president of the Philippines. Duterte, a tough-talking, 71-year-old former mayor of the southern city of Davao, had campaigned on promises to eradicate the countrys drug problem within six months.
He vowed to let nothing stand in his way not his opposition, not human rights, not due process.
"Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun you have my support," he said on June 6, in a nationally televised address. "Shoot [the drug dealer] and I'll give you a medal."
Since Duterte was inaugurated on June 30, the bodies have been piling up. About 1,900 people have been killed, according to local media, the vast majority of them poor. Among them, more than half were executed by vigilantes, often gunmen on motorcycles. The rest were killed by police.