Philippine police kill six bodyguards of drug-linked mayor

MANILA // Six people were killed on Wednesday when Philippine police commandos clashed with the bodyguards of a town mayor linked to illegal drugs.

The deaths were the latest casualties in a bloody crackdown on drugs that President Rodrigo Duterte said he would not halt even at the risk of losing his presidency.

Regional police chief Elmer Beltejar said police were patrolling near the house of Mayor Rolando Espinosa Senior in the central town of Albuera when they were fired upon by the mayor’s bodyguards. The police fired back, killing six bodyguards, he said.

The clash came a day after Mr Espinosa surrendered to national police chief Ronald dela Rosa. Authorities allege he has been protecting drug dealers, including his son Erwin, whom he urged to surrender.

Mr Espinosa surrendered within a 24-hour deadline given to him by Mr Duterte before a “shoot-on-sight order” would be issued against him and his son. Mr Dela Rosa warned that the younger Espinosa “will die” if he elects to shoot it out with police.

As the number of suspected drug dealers and users killed in his crackdown rose to more than 400, Mr Duterte said he will not stop his anti-drug battle even at the risk of losing his presidency. He said he has asked for rehabilitation centres to be opened in regions across the country to accommodate the thousands of surrendering drug users.

“If that’s the only way to try to scare me, by impeachment, go ahead,” Mr Duterte said. “It’s a war, it’s not a crisis. It’s not easy to take a human life but I’m sorry.”

Mr Duterte took office in June, and since then 402 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in clashes with police. At least 4,418 others have been arrested.

Mr Duterte, a former prosecutor and mayor of southern Davao city, where he built a reputation for tough anti-crime methods, won the presidential election earlier this year on a promise to end criminality and corruption in the first three to six months of his presidency.

He encouraged police and even ordinary citizens to shoot suspected drug dealers if they resist arrest, and promised cash rewards if they turn in drug lords.

Yury Fedotov, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, condemned the government’s apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killing, which he described as illegal and a violation of fundamental rights.

“Such responses contravene the provisions of the international drug control conventions, do not serve the cause of justice, and will not help to ensure that ‘all people can live in health, dignity and peace, with security and prosperity,”’ he said in a statement.

Philippine Senator Leila M De Lima, decried on Tuesday the “do-it- yourself justice” system under Mr Duterte.

*Associated Press

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”