Philippine police, like most police forces, have legal grounds to shoot people

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The Philippines police are (supposedly) using the exact same powers that police and civilians use in the USA to kill others: self-defense. The Philippines gun-control laws are based heavily on American ones. Police in both countries also have certain leeway if they believe a dangerous criminal is resisting arrest or poses an imminent danger (eg., he's armed). The same is true even in countries where Police are not routinely armed with guns: they can use lethal force if they believe it is justified.

Now, American police currently shoot (fatally) 1000 people a year, every year. There are probably thousands more non-fatal shootings.

Bear in mind that the US population is 3 times bigger than the Philippines, so if Filipino police end up killing "only" 300 people this year, you can pat yourselves on the back and shout Pinoy Pride.

I'm not condoning any of this. I'm just saying that Police acting as judge, jury and executioner is nothing out of the ordinary, in that they have certain legal powers to do so.

And as zaxx said: most countries have security forces whose job is explicitly to assassinate extremely dangerous people who (for whatever reason) cannot be brought to justice. The difference in the Philippines is that 5-10% of the population are dangerous criminals, and there is no justice system.

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http://www.getrealphilippines.com/blog/2016/08/dutertes-shoot-kill-order-makes-sense-land-overrun-zombies/#comment-1708680

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