If I were bolder or colder, I might claim that the war on drugs is a good kind of discrimination. And you know what? I bet a lot of Filipinos would agree with me.
However, I am not one of them, nor am I trying to stand on some moral high ground. What I believe in is simple, albeit a little naive: a president who betrays the law betrays his country. And I must pose the question: Is peace and order really worth it if it means you do not get to live in it?
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has led the country with an iron fist for six years. Not surprisingly, his regime has left a gruesome and bloody trail from his infamous War on Drugs. This brutal anti-drug campaign is just one of the many things that have cemented his legacy as one of the most controversial presidents of the Philippines.
Admittedly, he is unorthodox for a president – his supporters would argue that he was a breath of fresh air from all the previous leaders they see as elites. He habitually curses, conducts his meetings in the most bizarre times, and is unafraid to break the law he swore to protect.
He severely disdains illegal drugs to the extreme that he holds the record for the most state executed killings than those recorded under the Martial Law of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
According to the final report by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Duterte’s administration will leave a legacy that has “encouraged a culture of impunity” by failing to protect the rights of its people. He shuns independent investigations about human rights violations where little to no cops were tried in court for their crimes during his campaign against drugs.
When Duterte steps down from office in June, he will hand over his legal privileges and armor as the president. For instance, the International Criminal Court (ICC) could now prosecute him for the human rights violations he was responsible for as president. In fact, there was already an investigation approved by the ICC conducted in September last year to probe into the killings but was temporarily suspended in November at the country’s request.
This investigation does not discourage Duterte, as he has publicly stated that he will continue his anti-drug campaign. Even as a civilian, he will hunt criminals and shoot them on his motorcycle – especially those linked with illegal drugs.
Hopefully, for all Filipinos, a new administration will efficiently solve the proliferation of narcotics in the country. And on another hopeful note, Duterte would face the consequences of his atrocities.
Unfortunately, that seems to be too far from reality. The presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. shares the same sentiments with Duterte about the ICC. He has previously stated that he will only allow the ICC to enter the country as tourists – not as investigators.
To give you context on the casualties of the drug war, the CHR analyzed a probability sample size of 882 case dockets with concluded investigations, which covered a total of 872 incidents with 1,139 victims. They resorted to these methods because law enforcement authorities were uncooperative during the duration of the investigations.
798 of the 882 have connections to the drug trade – of which 793 resulted in the death of at least one victim. A total of 1,014 victims were recorded wherein 920 were killed while only 87 survived.
Additionally, 478 incidents involving 698 victims occurred in the context of law enforcement operations. Meaning that they all died by the guns of the Philippine National Police (PNP). The common theme of police records is that victims “initiated aggression or resisted arrest.” If we consider the claim truthful, records show that only 31 incidents were detrimental to police operatives. This is since they were equipped with bulletproof vests or were hit in their arms and legs. And 133 witness accounts also state discrepancies and inconsistencies in the official police reports.
Furthermore, out of the 235 victims with records of sustained gunshot wounds, 201 were shot in the head and or torso. These are just some of the evidence that proves police authorities were operating to kill these victims.
And yet, with all these casualties, the war on drugs failed – Duterte even admitted it so. The illegal drug trade in the Philippines is still alive and kicking. This is because the majority of the victims belonged to marginalized sectors. Up to this day, there is no high-ranking drug lord with actual influence on the Drug War put on trial.
Had these thousands of deaths even led to something great? Absolutely not.
Although, if I would consider his 67.2% approval rating over the past year, I could not help but concede that his bloody regime and unorthodox methods suit the majority of the Filipino taste buds just fine.
But what this administration fails to mention and act upon is that drug addicts are victims of a country’s flawed system that fails to provide and safeguard them with their rights. There are systematic layers that lead to the drug addiction and abuse of a country, take, for example, what we see in the recurring narcotics problems faced by 3rd world countries like the Philippines, such as Columbia, up to superpower nations such as the United States of America.
I wonder if the focus of the anti-drug campaign were geared towards solving poverty, creating jobs with livable wages, or treating addiction as a health problem, would that have resulted in a drug war where the Filipino people actually won?
Most Filipinos do not want to hear it, but if the country were dedicated to helping people quit consuming narcotics for good, it must treat addicts as patients rather than as criminals. Case in point, Portugal – its radical approach to decriminalizing illegal drugs has helped them win the war altogether.
It is no glass-shattering truth that if the government fails to provide its citizens with food, shelter, and a quality healthcare system, citizens would have to rely on lifelines that are often illegal, inhumane, and corruptive just so they could have the barest of things.
And if that is so, then what else is there to conclude from the current Philippine government but that it first pushes Filipinos into a life of addiction and then murders them for it.
And as history would testify, these leaders may get away with murder – but only if the public remains apathetic. But the public does care, the public cares very much, and these crimes will never be treated with indifference.
The war on drugs was never good discrimination, nor should it be claimed as one. And I know, yet still hope, Filipinos will agree with me.
Is it not scary to envision that we are pawns that could die in one second, and they will frame it as a means for an orderly community. It is indeed a peaceful society, only you are not welcome nor do you get to live in it.
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