Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign to bring back the death penalty for drug-related crimes has cleared a major hurdle, with supporters backing it in congress but critics denouncing the planned killings as "inhumane". The death penalty bill, along with a proposed measure to punish children as young as nine as adult criminals, are key planks of Duterte's controversial drug war that has already claimed more than 6,500 lives. A majority of politicians in the lower house of congress passed a second reading of the bill on Wednesday night, clearing one of the biggest obstacles in proponents' plans to make the death penalty legal by May.



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