Duterte and the drug dissonance

How two rides and a few questions reveal the sentiment on the street

Kakuei Araral
Jul 23, 2017 · 4 min read

I discovered something today when I took two rides: one to market, and one to church for our weekly Sunday commute.

I rode a human-powered trike to market. And I tried to make small-talk with the padyak driver. I usually ask them about how much they earn for such hard manual ferrying of people. This time I asked about the recent fire near our area, along Tramo street in the City of Pasay. He had no idea.

“But it’s good that fire happened.”

I asked why.

“They should raze that place. It’s infested with drug pushers and addicts.”

I was shocked at his response. I swear he could’ve come from that area, like most informal drivers like him who earn 300 pesos a day ($6), below the minimum wage.

I pass by that place maybe once a week, on the way to work. It is a Bermuda Triangle of cities Pasay to the south, Makati to the west — where I live — and Manila, which bounds the north side all within 2 kilometers of each other.

It was actually the second fire I’ve heard of since we moved to this part of Makati just last January. I initially had some reservations moving here. Sure, it was nearer work but I was aware of it’s proximity to Pasay, where local gangs and drugs have reigned.

Fire respondents had a hard time getting in Tramo. This was the first fire we witnessed in 7 months living nearby.

But here I am, living across the creek that delineates Makati and Pasay. I actually enjoy the daily commute on my longboard, which takes me a mere 10 minutes to get to my workplace. And I sometimes pass through Tramo if the entry to Dominga is too congested with buses, jeeps and people rushing to LRT, Manila’s Light Rail Transit.

My side of Tramo is a crowded street teeming with people with a basketball court in the middle of the street, and small market places lining up the 2km segment from Buendia in Pasay to Ocampo in Manila. Four-wheeled vehicles rarely pass through here because there are motorcycles and stalls on both sides of the street. Children playing. Young mothers taking their babies out for a little sun. Grandmothers washing clothes on the street. Young and old men nursing hangovers. I skate with much caution here.

On my first day at my new office, I walked down this street at dusk mindless of the dangers lurking in between these cities. I was determined to know my new community.

Tramo Steet is teeming with life, and death

The morning trike ride got me thinking. I went to church in Ortigas, 10kms away like I always do on Sundays. Sometimes we take an Uber or Grab, the Asian equivalent. Sometimes we take a taxi. Most of the time I try to interview the drivers. I’m not as good as my dad in connecting, but I’m getting there.

I asked our Uber driver about his opinion on the drug war so far. His candid approval also shocked me. Apparently he has a cousin who is a notorious drug personality in their place in Pureza, Sta. Mesa in another rough part of Metro Manila. He says that it would be better for their community if his cousin was another statistic in Duterte’s anti-drug drive.

I share with him another friend’s story, near his area in N. Domingo also in Sta. Mesa. My friend’s cousin like his cousin was also a marked drug personality but one who continued to ply the illicit trade despite of the warnings. She was was gunned down with her husband in their home in an alleged “death squad” style ambush. There were CCTV cameras that captured these roving groups of two men in motorcycles and it was all over the news. There were 3 “operations” that day, and my friend’s cousin was one of them.


President Rodrigo Duterte will be facing the nation tomorrow with his second State of the Nation Address. His campaign promise rode on his promise of waging a bloody war on drugs. It has been a bloody war indeed, with about ten thousand dead already. Some undoubtedly killed by drug syndicates in a deadly purging of the ranks. Some probably killed by rogue police. In the process, some innocents were sacrificed as collateral damage. But such is life, and we will all ultimately answer for the crimes we commit if not in this life, then in the next.

And apparently, most of the country approves contrary to the dissonance of local and most western media. But there a few who get it. That Dutere has probably one of the highest approval ratings among world leaders at a very high and sustained 80%. We will see if this war on drugs will shift into a more long-term solution that addresses the root causes.

Kakuei Araral

Written by

Designer + Skater + Advocate

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