'The Punisher' is popular: Bloodthirsty Philippines President Duterte boasts support of 84% of citizens as he bans smoking and death squads slaughter drug users in the streets

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More gruesome photographs of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown on drugs have emerged, as the acid-tongued leader rides high in opinion polls and introduces a nationwide ban on smoking.

The photos show drug suspects packed inside police holding cells, a body dumped in a canal and a candle-lit vigil on a roadside in Manila, the country's capital.

The drug war, Duterte's signature policy popular among Filipinos who elected him in May by a huge margin, has killed more than 3,600 people since June 30, with 1,377 shot by police in operations. Activists believe the rest were mostly vigilante killings.

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Inmates watch as drug suspects are processed inside a police station on October 12, 2016

A body of a man with his hands tied behind his back found in a canal on September 27, 2016

The United Nations, the European Union, the United States and international human rights groups have all raised concern over alleged extrajudicial killings. 

But Duterte, who is known as 'The Punisher', is rating well with Filipinos, according to two recent opinion polls.

The president was rated 'very good', with a net satisfaction rating of 64 percent in a Social Weather Stations Poll on Thursday last week. Only 11 percent of 1,200 people polled were not satisfied with Duterte.

In a separate poll the following day, 84 percent of Filipinos said they supported the drug crackdown although most felt it important to arrest suspects alive.

Duterte has dismissed the international protestations - often in foul-mouthed tirades - as meddling in what he says are internal affairs.

The firebrand politician, not content with just stamping out hard drugs, has also recently introduced a nationwide smoking ban

The national restrictions will be along the same lines as those set in Duterte's old municipality of Davao - no smoking in public places, either indoor or outdoor.

Residents light candles on the bloodied spot where a man was killed by unknown assailants on October 12, 2016

An alleged drug dealer and execution victim is examined by police

Investigators inspect the body of an alleged drug dealer in Manila on October 1, 2016

Confiscated crystal meth (locally known as 'shabu'), cash and drug paraphernalia

Suspected drug dealers and users enter a police cell in Manila, the Philippines' capital