It seems many think Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte is going after drug mafias to take them down with police action. Even drug barons & money-laundering bankers deserve due process in a democratic & civilized society.

But they are not who Duterte is going after. He is gunning down drug addicts & small-time drug hustlers, most of whom have been dispossessed & impoverished by high-stakes neoliberal rural & urban policies. He is going after poor people who need health care, housing, & jobs, not summary execution.

He is a monster, a thug, & a vigilante. His actions are to be condemned.