License to: Eradicate or Kill?
My parents, who always enforced the rules and had strong hopes on raising a socially acceptable child always said: “Ang mga adik ay palaging magiging adik, huwag mong sirain ang iyong buhay sa droga,” which translates to “the addicts are always going to be addicts, don’t ruin your life with drugs.” The echoing sentiments of anti-drug values reflects Filipino societal needs to abolish drugs in all sense of the matter. For many Filipinos nationwide, the word “drugs” or “adik” almost always equates to lazy, societal deadweights, who commit crime. This has sprawled into modern political ideology, in which the current president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has made his primary platform focused solely on launching the Philippines War on Drugs. Since 2016, Duterte’s reign has authorized more than 30,000 extrajudicial executions, leaving thousands of families mourning. But what does this mean for Filipinos, has the Filipino stigma of drugs carried this war too far… or is this a necessary action to finally eradicate drugs?
Within the last five years alone, President Duterte has single handedly transformed Philippine democracy to a Philippine dictatorship, bringing forth a state of instability where his own rhetoric is sovereign. This primary foundation allowed the ideas of cleaning up corruption, streets, and most importantly, drugs to come into violent fruition. While many Filipinos thought this would allow for a solution of drugs, it instead resulted in a bloodbath of instability and killings. While one might view Duterte’s reign of undisputed sovereign dictatorship as the most effective form of true and essential change, I argue that the people’s bottom-up approach, such as local demonstration and grassroot organizations, when combined with globalalized efforts, proves more vital in order to stop human rights abuses, bring forth justified solutions, and ultimately preserves the rights of humanity and the lives of Filipino people.
But before diving into solutions to human rights violations within the Philippines, let us examine the conditions which fostered the rise of Duterte, and the infamous War on Drugs. Certainly, there is a strong history of drugs in the Philippines, and in fact, true “addiction only emerged in the Philippines during the American [colonized] period (1901–46) when American forces introduced opium alkaloids, coca plant and hemp for medical reasons” (Simangan 2017). Since then, it has transformed to be the cheap answer for the economic struggle of many unemployed, homeless, and impoverished Filipinos throughout the country. Simply put, drugs have become the mainstream norm in order to escape a cruel, unjustified world and situation within a third world country. However, I argue that the problem of drugs truly rose because of a lack of education and inherent misuse and stigma of drugs in general. In 2002, pre-Duterte, the Philippine government repealed the Dangerous Drugs Act, a “policy of the State to safeguard the integrity of its territory and the well-being of its citizenry, particularly the youth, from the harmful effects of dangerous drugs” (GOVPH 2017). This in turn removed vital education, safe havens, and rehabilitation programs to Philippine citizens, and instead reinforced the horrid stigma surrounding drugs themselves. Without this vital policy, law and order reclaimed itself as the primary solution to drugs, whereas mental health advocates and education systems fell off the public’s mind. Therefore, Philippine mainstream media quickly pointed their fingers towards drugs as the source of all problems among citizens and the youth, equating crime and violence to drug use. This twisted viewpoint on abuse brought forth a new “goal [among politicians and media]… It’s really to make drug use something that’s unacceptable [and] totally disliked by Philippine society” (Cousins 2016). This point is crucial, as it became one of the biggest factors in confiding the public’s trust — to save the Philippines, one must have the answer to eradicate drugs. This was only the beginning to what the public thought was the true solution, Rodrigo Duterte.
With the shadow of drugs looming across the public of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte became the primary spotlight and answer to saving the lives of Filipinos. Through “order, public resistance… and resentment towards the elite democracy,” Duterte was able to not only win the Presidential election of 2016, but also win the hearts of Filipino citizens (Simangan 2017). With clear vocal expression on solutions to ongoing problems within the country, and leadership “by an iron fist, even at the cost of liberal values of human rights and rule of law,” Duterte began his reign of terror (Simangan 2017). He launched his platform of a “War on Drugs” almost immediately after taking office, and “collectively labeled drug suspects as adik, not human, good for nothing, criminals, rapists, and murderers” (Cousins 2016). Thus, Duterte called upon mass police raids across the country, brutally murdering 30,000 people, and labeling them either “collateral damage” or “self-defense” killings by the police (Human Rights Watch 2020). With a promise of presidential protection, and practically free reign to shoot and kill, police officers terrorized the streets of the Philippines, pushing for further citizen violence and brutality. While initially garnering mass support, many citizens began questioning his violent solutions. This is a momentous part of history because these extrajudicial killings became a huge turning point for many Philippine mindsets, as Duterte’s mass war on drugs only guaranteed selective safety, and not public safety.
Strong stigma only fueled national police to target impoverished parts of the Philippines, creating a false correlation between poverty and drugs, and ultimately labeling the poor of the Philippines, the scum of the Philippines. Many of these killings happen in “impoverished areas” against people who “struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families… But none of the cases investigated fit the category of big-time drug lords — they were people at the bottom of the drug chain” thus, turning a blind eye to the real problem at hand (Human Rights Watch 2020). Duterte portrays a false image in which offenders, or adiks, are destined to be “kill[ed]… I do not care about human rights… What crime against humanity? In the first place, I would like to be frank with you, are drug users [even] humans” (Simangan 2017)? These polarizing efforts displayed on mainstream media inherently creates a sense of disgust and division among Philippine citizens and society, but strong speeches and an iron fist can no longer hide the years of bloodshed and mourning among Filipinos. It is important to note, however, that even though many Filipinos believe that the use of illegal drugs must be eradicated from the Philippines, they do not agree with the thousands of extrajudicial killings, and the clear human rights violations among citizens (Bernstein 2020). Therefore, an imbalance of political power and faulty regulations took advantage of drug stigma within the Philippines in order to justify people’s deaths. This notion of “safety” was misconstrued by Duterte in order to gain sovereign, dictatorial power, only advocating for his own agenda. These false hopes of drug eradication only created mass paranoia, hatred, and ultimately, genocide among the Filipino people.
So what is the solution? How can Filipinos rise, and ultimately fight a sovereign dictator utilizing global efforts? Facing an intolerable regime, communities of the Philippines needed to gather themselves in solidarity in order to bring worldwide attention and help. Failing a top down solution to meet basic human rights, many began to practice non-violent protests, with demonstrators showing up every week in the main highways of Manila, Philippines (Jazeera 2020). Particularly, a grassroots organization named Karapatan Alliance Philippines, rose to stand for Filipino people and the safety of families. This organization is led by regular everyday citizens, who realized that it is truly up to them to invoke change within the Philippines, and fight a sovereign regime. Karapatan, which translates to “rights,” is a left-wing non-governmental organization and human rights advocate group; focusing on research and advocacy towards human rights campaigns, and specifically monitoring and documenting the human rights violations in the Philippines. They began and organized marches happening to this day, and with their hard work, they have drawn attention to human rights violations in the Philippines on a global stage (Jazeera 2020). This is key in recent history, as it began global efforts such as the United Nations and Human Rights Watch groups to finally turn their attention to horrid problems within the Philippines. It brought forth a wave of global spotlight, fueled by the support of everyday citizens, and paved the way for true discussion on abused and silenced human rights. Without bottom-up approaches vocalizing in opposition against Duterte, there would not be such a shift in Philippine politics and the call for help among global stages. Therefore, the Philippines has ultimately shifted from a war torn, sovereign country, to a country with the world advocating for its citizens and their rights.
Therefore, I argue that the solution lies in utilizing global efforts to finally dismantle intolerable leaders, and bring justice to their iniquitous actions. In particular, the International Criminal Court, is an intergovernmental organization made by the United Nations. They investigate and charge people who commit crimes that violate international communities, such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity (Human Rights Watch 2020). In past history, the ICC has had the biggest impact in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which took down and found the head of the Defense of Congo, Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, guilty under 7 charges of human rights abuse. This in turn created a wave of new freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and media, which further pushed the change of political hierarchy and investigation, opening up true avenues for political change within the Congo and the world (Human Rights Watch 2020). It is incredibly important to note that these similar efforts have and will continue to advocate for global change and human rights, proving that global efforts from everyday people serve as the global equalizer in dictatorial sovereign states, thus, giving power back to the people.
Consequently, a member of the Karapatan makes a vital point in which “It’s not about the numbers, because the policy continues… the killings will escalate.” (Bernstein 2020). Although global attention has been brought by the people’s efforts, killings will continue to happen unless the policy and authorities are ultimately changed. Among those global efforts, the International Criminal Court pushed for justice saying that “any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence… within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the court” (Human Rights Watch 2020). Here, it is important to realize that without globalization, sovereign bodies will continue to push forth their own violent and selfish agendas. Through true global efforts, basic calls for humanity are preserved and upheld, and without crucial global efforts, violations will continue to occur not just in the Philippines, but in every individual sovereign state. With no clear intention of halting the War on Drugs, Duterte must be held accountable which makes “it all the more important for international institutions like the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council to do what they can to hold Duterte and other senior officials to account for their abuses” (Human Rights Watch 2020). With this in mind, it is only necessary to continue engaging in bottom-up protests and movements to break the silence of clear human rights violations. But even if policies are changed and Duterte is finally taken down — will the War on Drugs finally be over? Simply put, no. One cannot fix a corrupt issue from the top-down, but through slow little actions, human rights along with humanity can be persevered. These performative measures and actions among regular everyday citizens further creates a strong confirmation that finally holds national sovereignty accountable. These protests and nonviolent demonstrations create moments of spotlight that guides attention back to the people. It brings forth hope in the sense that globalized efforts partnered with human volition can make strong movements that strengthens humanity itself.
While there is a current spotlight on these violations in the Philippines, the desperate efforts made by the Filipino people to dismantle this corrupt justice system have proven itself to begin true change. It has begun the long process of bringing stability and true, effective change among the Philippine social and political strata, and done so with the help of populist and global awareness. Through the strength and call for global efforts, small potent change can reinstate humanity not just for Filipino citizens, but for every citizen in the world today.
Works Cited
ABC News. “High-Profile ICC Cases.” ABC News, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2012,
www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-14/cases-before-the-icc/3888680.
Al Jazeera. “Thousands Protest Deadly Drug War in the Philippines.” Rodrigo Duterte News | Al
Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 24 Feb. 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/24/thousands-protest-deadly-drug-war-in-the-philippines.
Cousins, Sophie. “Five Thousand Dead and Counting: The Philippines’ Bloody War on Drugs.”
BMJ : British Medical Journal (Online), vol. 355, 2016. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/five-thousand-dead-counting-philippines-bloody/docview/1844361775/se-2?accountid=14749, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6177.
Duterte, ― Rodrigo. “‘License to Kill.’” Human Rights Watch, 13 July 2017,
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/03/02/license-kill/philippine-police-killings-dutertes-wa
r-drugs.
“Human Rights First to Present Philippines Organization Karapatan with William D. Zabel
Human Rights Award.” Human Rights First, 2021,
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/human-rights-first-present-philippines-org
anization-karapatan-william-d-zabel-human.
“International Solidarity.” Karapatan, 2021, https://www.karapatan.org/international_solidarity.
Person, and Karen Lema. “Philippines to Review Thousands More ‘Drug War’ Killings.”
Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 20 Oct. 2021,
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-review-thousands-drugs-war-killi
ngs-if-time-justice-minister-2021–10–20/.
Macalalad, K.A. and Rayco, R. (2018), The Philippines’ “War on Drugs” in the Community
Press. Asian Politics & Policy, 10:
159–162.https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1111/aspp.1237
“Philippines: No Letup in ‘Drug War’ Killings.” Human Rights Watch, 28 Oct. 2020,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/14/philippines-no-letup-drug-war-killings#.
Simangan, Dahlia. “Is the Philippine ‘War on Drugs’ an Act of Genocide?” Journal of Genocide
Research, vol. 20, no. 1, 2017, pp. 68–89.,
