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“And It Needs Severe Heat For It to Be Gold”

A Narrative Report on Pres. Duterte’s War Against Drugs

“My God, I hate drugs. And I have to kill people because I hate drugs.” - Rodrigo Duterte,
2016, Inquirer.
From his campaign period to when he was elected as the President of the Philippines
on July 1st, 2016, President Duterte has made the war on drugs his top priority. “We will not
stop until the last drug lord, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or are
put, either behind bars or below the ground, if they so wish.” His testament.
Human rights organizations, foreign countries, and the United Nations have all
marked it as controversy and criticized the Philippine’s drug war. Just weeks before it went
into effect, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights special rapporteur
Agnes Callamard asked for an investigation into the Philippines' drug war, calling it a
program with "dangerously out of step" tactics. President Duterte’s war on drugs had two
aftermaths and effects; positive and negative.

THE POSITIVE
Highlighting the Drug Problem. The war on drugs' first legacy was to bring the Philippines'
drug problem into the national forefront. To Duterte's credit, his government has not shied
away from uncomfortable truths like the Philippines' role as a trans-shipment point for global
drug trafficking and the country's high drug user population of 1.8 million. Duterte has also
bravely and correctly revealed politicians' complicity in the drug trade. Government officials
have been accused of participating in or defending the drug trade even before his election, but
previous presidents have turned a blind eye. Though these efforts have not had major results,
they do suggest that Philippine government entities are willing to handle drugs in a thorough
and open manner. Recognizing the gravity of the situation helps move the Philippine
government's response to a clearly big problem forward. In the Philippines, police officers
have gone around neighbourhoods with high percentages of drug users and traffickers, and
millions of people have signed up for drug recovery programs.
Curtail the Drug Problem. According to a survey, several Filipino citizens are largely
comfortable with President Rodrigo Duterte's violent drug campaign, lending a boost to a
regime incensed by foreign calls to probe reports of police murders. Social Weather Stations'
quarterly poll of 1,200 Filipinos gave Duterte's three-year campaign a "outstanding" grade,
with 82 percent satisfied due to a sense of less drugs and crime in the country. In comparison,
12 percent were unsatisfied, believing that the drug trade was still thriving and that there were
too many killings and police abuses. In late June, an independent pollster found that 6% of
people were uncertain. Police claim to have killed around 6,700 accused drug dealers who all
resisted arrest, but they deny any participation in the deaths of thousands more drug addicts.

Human rights organizations claim that police have executed targets, faked reports, and
tampered with evidence and crime scenes. However, Salvador Panelo, the presidential
spokesman, said the poll revealed that the world community had a distorted view of what was
going on. "If human rights violations are true, then the people of this country will rise up
against this administration," Panelo warned. "It's not true that police officers can just kill at
will," he added.
The Philippine administration claims that the country has undergone several good
improvements as a result of the drug war. The drug battle should reduce crime, poverty, and
violence. And, the country is plagued by corruption. For the 'decent citizens,' this must lead to
'safety.' Aside from the war on terror, Duterte's policy ensures additional improvements as
well. Duterte, for example, is fighting the Islamic State (IS) insurgents in the country's south.
He announced Marawi (a city in the Philippines' south) to be free of terrorists on October
17th, 2017, IS-rebels (NU, 2017). Gambling is also a major issue in the Philippines.
Therefore, Duterte wants to make internet gambling illegal in his country. Gambling in the
Philippines is one of Asia's most vibrant cities, attracting many foreign enterprises in recent
years. Billionaires are involved in the gaming sector (NU, 2016b). Duterte has also enacted
legislation that the Philippines has over a hundred public universities and colleges that offer
free tuition. The perceived safety of Filipino inhabitants and the impact on the regime’s
legitimacy—these are few of the positive aspects of Duterte’s war on drugs.

THE NEGATIVE
A Dangerous Philosophy. However, the way the Philippine government has conveyed the
drug problem to the public has perpetuated a number of myths that have hampered efforts to
find a long-term solution. Duterte, for example, frequently conflates all types of drug users -
pushers, dependents, and occasional users - as violent culprits, despite evidence suggesting
just a small percentage of drug usage is harmful. He has also made no secret of his desire to
see individuals executed rather than imprisoned, despite the fact that there is often scant
evidence of their involvement in the drug trade.
Extrajudicial Killings. Kian Delos Santos. Carl Anaiz. Reynold de Guzman. Elicited outrage
recently as CCTV footage of him [Kian] being dragged by two men emerged - contrary to the
police’s account that the victim fought them. However, these comments presuppose the guilt
of all victims of the drug war — an improbable scenario in light of incidents like Kian's and
other juveniles killed in the drug war, which number in the hundreds.
Chad Booc. 'He seemed to be the biggest threat to national security...a lanky boy with a
sunflower smile who taught and cared for Indigenous children.’ Chad, was a UP alumna. He
was one of UP’s friendliest and most prominent activists. Together with a friend, they
promised to cherish their friendship for such a long time until he was killed by the AFP on
February 24, 2020. Chad Booc, a volunteer “lumad” (indigenous people) teacher, died likely
instantly in a hail of bullets fired with “an intent to kill,” according to a forensic pathologist
who performed an autopsy on his body more than a week after he and four others were killed
in what the military said was an “encounter” with soldiers in Davao de Oro province. He died
for the fact that activism is viewed as terrorism.
Justice Intolerance. The arrest of Senator De Lima for allegedly drug-related charges.
Years, she was detained in prison deprived of freedom and innocence. Senator Leila De
Lima, one of President Rodrigo Duterte's harshest critics, has been in prison since 2017 on
charges of using drug money to fund her senatorial campaign in 2016, when she was Justice
Secretary. However, De Lima and human rights organizations believe the drug allegations
against her were made up to keep her quiet about the administration's violent drug campaign.
De Lima's allegations have been frequently refuted by Malacanang, which claims the charges
against her are being heard by the country's independent courts.

One of the senator's three drug cases has so far been dismissed. The Muntinlupa Regional
Trial Court is still hearing the other two cases. And here comes the plot twist, Kerwin
Espinosa, a self-professed drug kingpin, retracts his earlier claims that he conducted drug
connections with De Lima through Dayan in the Bilibid, claiming in a sworn statement that
he was simply "coerced, pressured, frightened, and seriously threatened by the police." The
government did not call Espinosa as a witness because it was satisfied with the testimony of
former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos and some detainees to convict De Lima,
according to Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento. [04-28-22]. (CNN). Ragos, like
Espinosa, retracts his testimony that he personally transferred money to De Lima through
Dayan on two occasions in 2012. He alleges Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre forced him
to "acknowledge something that did not happen. Supporters have repeated their requests for
the senator's quick release and the prosecution of those responsible for her captivity. [04-30-
22]. (CNN)

Others would absolve Duterte of accountability, blaming the deaths on vigilantes and a few
corrupt police officers.Even if we ignore reports of police officers staging crime scenes and
being paid to kill drug suspects, Duterte's rhetoric - which includes promises to protect police
from prosecution and even suggesting that they plant guns if suspects don't have any - has
undoubtedly enabled a culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, undermining the
rule of law and damaging the credibility of institutions, including the police. Alas, justice is
only for the powerful.

To put a denouement for this paper, Duterte’s war on drugs has affected the lives of Filipinos
incongruously. While others tasted the gold bars of it, others however, tasted the heat it went
through for the gold to become one. Surely, we cannot judge a book by its cover. Not
everything beautiful is right, and not everything right is legal. It is not a crime, negligence, or
recklessness to kill innocent citizens, Duterte believes so. Instead, he claims it is merely
"collateral damage" (Al Jazeera, cited in Phillips). 2016. As a result, dread rises among both
'decent' citizens and drug dealers/users in the community of Philippine Islands (Harvey,
2016). It’s devastating to hear that streets felt more unsafe than prisons could be.

All problems have solutions. But not everything would resort to violence and destruction.
Just as VP Leni has said, “War on drugs could be solved in so many ways without getting
blood on our hands.” Duterte’s war on drugs was good, but it wasn’t a success. Because for a
gold to be one, it needs severe heat.
REFERENCES
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-drugs-idUSKBN1W803M

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/commentary-good-bad-and-ugly-rodrigo-dutertes-war-
drugs-998846

https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/6988/Kattouw%2C_Iris_1.pdf?sequence=1

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/16/TIMELINE-Leila-De-Lima-arrest-prison-.html?
fbclid=IwAR2wwDDhX2-Xo8oKa2KVkWgyMj5UlZvTdEnltABHcsMcH0NScYf_VOERYsM

https://www.rappler.com/voices/ispeak/first-person-chad-booc-friend-afp-killed-him/

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1567042/intent-to-kill-the-booc-autopsy