Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had lauded President Maithripala Sirisena for Sri Lanka’s plan to replicate the success of the Philippines’ war on drugs, the Philippine News Agency reported on Thursday.
President Duterte’s Spokesperson Harry Roque made this reaction after President Sirisena has recognized Philippines’ successful approach against illegal drugs.
“Of course, we are happy that other countries have taken note of our war on drugs and that they look upon us as best practice on dealing with illegal drugs. So we appreciate that, but as of now, we still have no death penalty,” Roque said in a press briefing.
According to media reports, Sri Lanka will begin hanging drug dealers to "replicate success of Philippines".
President Sirisena said he was ready to sign the "death warrants" of repeat drug offenders after nearly 50 years of moratorium on executions.
“Well, I think, we have not reached the point where we will hang them. We are still on the level of really using our police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the National Bureau of Investigation and our political will against drug pushers,” Roque said.
As promised during election campaign, Duterte launched his war on drugs right on his first day in office in July 2016, prompting over 1.2 million drug personalities to surrender to authorities.