The European Union (EU) and the United States have urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to respect human rights in his incredibly bloody war on drugs that has seen anywhere from 30 to 40 Filipinos being murdered daily from July 1 to Sept. 17.

Most of these killings, now numbering over 3,000, were carried out by Philippine police or "vigilantes" linked to police as part of "Duterte's Drug War."

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The US also called for an impartial investigation of claims Duterte allegedly ordered the murders of over 1,000 persons when he was a city mayor, a "massacre" unprecedented in Philippine history.

In a five-page resolution issued Sept. 15, the European Union (EU) Parliament in Brussels ordered its delegation in the Philippines and embassies of its 27 member states to monitor human rights abuses. It also urged Duterte "to put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings" of drug suspects.

EU lawmakers raised concern about the very high numbers of Filipinos being killed during police operations and by vigilante groups.

That number now exceeds 3,000 persons since July 1, said the Philippine National Police (PNP). Some 30 to 40 Filipinos are being killed every day by police and killers the police claim are "vigilantes."

The latest death toll released Sept. 17 by the PNP conflicts with a previous death count it issued on Sept. 11. The PNP's toll of 1,138 drug suspects it said it killed as of Sept. 17 is inexplicably lower than the 1,466 persons it said it killed until Sept. 11.

The discrepancy of 300 deaths has not been explained by the police. These deaths all occurred after the implementation of "Oplan Double Barrel" (the code name for Duterte's Drug War) starting July 1.

PNP Director General Ronald de la Rosa for the first time, however, did not report on the number of deaths blamed on "vigilantes" in his statement on Sept. 17.

But as of Sept. 8, the PNP reported 1,490 drug suspects killed by vigilante groups, deaths which the PNP classifies as "deaths under investigation."

Averaging vigilante killings from July 1 to Sept. 17 will increase the death toll to over 1,600 by Sept. 17. This will bring total deaths in Duterte's Drug War to some 3,200 based on corrected figures for killings attributed to police and vigilantes from July 1 to Sept. 17.

That's the equivalent of some 40 Filipinos killed or murdered daily in Duterte's Drug War. Perhaps only the grisly toll in Syria exceeds this monstrous tally.

Duterte has given the police six months or until Dec. 31 to rid the Philippines of drug peddlers and drug addicts. Hence, the gory death toll as the police and their vigilante allies try to attain this impossible goal.

EU lawmakers believe Duterte's statements on the drug war encourage the mass murders of drug suspects by police and vigilante groups.

"President Duterte repeatedly urged law enforcement agencies and the public to kill suspected drug traffickers who did not surrender, as well as drug users," said the EU resolution.

It added that "President Duterte publicly stated he would not pursue law enforcement officers and citizens who killed drug dealers who resisted arrest."

The EU Parliament adopted the resolution addressing the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines based on Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) signed by EU and the Philippines in 2014 that also commits the Philippines to uphold rule of law, human rights and international human rights conventions.

The United States said it is "taking seriously" allegations revealed in the Philippine Senate that Duterte ordered over 1,000 killings in Davao City when he was mayor from 1993 to 2016.

"These are serious allegations and we take them seriously, we look into them," said US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner.

The International watchdog Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations for an independent investigation into these claims made by one of Duterte's former hitmen, Edgar Matobato.

"President Duterte can't be expected to investigate himself, so it is crucial that the United Nations is called in to lead such an effort. Otherwise, Filipinos may never know if the president was directly responsible for extrajudicial killings," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

TagsRodrigo Duterte, Duterte's Drug War, European Union, Philippine National Police, Director General Ronald de la Rosa