Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed tough-talking ex-human rights lawyer, Harry Roque, as his spokesman, replacing a former pastor who had been one of the most vocal defenders of his deadly drug war. Last week, Duterte defended his bloody war on drugs, telling Southeast Asian lawyers he had been “demonized” and denying allegations of state-sponsored killings of drug dealers and users. Front-line advocates in this city in the central Philippines say the violent anti-drug campaign is pushing users ever further underground, fuelling the spread of disease by stopping efforts to get them clean needles.