Philippine police to rejoin anti-drug operations

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the police and other law enforcement agencies to rejoin anti-drug operations, overturning his earlier directive to leave it to the government's anti-drug agency to handle the much-criticized deadly campaign.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Tuesday that Duterte approved a memorandum directing the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies to resume "providing active support" to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in anti-drug operations.

He said the memorandum supersedes Duterte's earlier order. A month before a November summit in Manila of Asian and Western leaders, Duterte pulled the police from anti-drug operations amid international criticism of the campaign, which has left thousands of drug suspects dead.