Alternatives To The Philippines’ Drug War

Thirty-two suspected drug dealers were killed in a 24-hour period in a shootout with police across the province of Bulacan, Philippines. Sixty-six buy-bust operations were conducted in which undercover police officers tried to buy illegal drugs from suspected dealers, and twenty such operations, along with fourteen searches, resulted in armed encounters. Romeo Caramat Jr., Bulacan Provincial Director Senior Superintendent, said that this was a major one-time operation targeting notorious drug dealers.

President Rodrigo Duterte praised the operations: “That’s good. If we can only kill 32 every day, maybe we can fix what ails this country.” Along with the 32 deaths, 107 others were arrested. For a single night, this was the greatest number killed in that province. Caramat also added, “Some quarters of the society are questioning why that many ended up dead, but all we can say is that we don’t have any control of the situation … These subjects in this one time big-time operations, they are what we call the notorious drug pushers. They are called notorious. They won’t let themselves be arrested alive.”

Duterte’s war on drugs, which has been ongoing since Duterte came to power in June 2016, has consisted of aggressive crackdowns on drugs, resulting in more than three thousand alleged drug dealers and drug users dead. Prior to this operation, 14 suspects had been killed in separate police operations in Bulacan province over the course of this month, while 18 were killed in July. As the war on drugs continues, there have been doubts raised as to how much the situation is under government control. Duterte indicated that his administration is unable to control the drug problem in the Philippines due to lack of resources and considering the massive Philippines coastline; the country consists of more than seven thousand islands. According to local and international human rights groups, more than nine thousand people died due to the war on drugs, including those who have died because of vigilante killings, along with the aforementioned police operations.

There are many issues with the current direction of the ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines. One prominent issue is the extrajudicial killings of low-level drug dealers and drug users, while there is little being done to bring major drug lords to justice. Along with this, there have been killings that have raised significant controversies. One recent example of such an incident is the death of Kian Delos Santos. In this case, this 17-year-old student was killed, leading to national protests and multiple government investigations. He was dragged from his home in Caloocan, which is on the outskirts of Manila, and allegedly murdered by police in what was meant to be a raid against drug dealers. Such a killing has had widespread consequences, to the extent where even Duterte himself acknowledged, after viewing the CCTV footage of the student being dragged, that the police operation went wrong. Duterte stated during a press conference: “I saw the tape on TV and I agree that there should be an investigation. Should the investigation point to liabilities by one, two, or all, there will be a prosecution, and they have to go to jail if convicted.”

Despite the persistent popularity of Duterte and his war on drugs, this death may be viewed as a turning point. With this death and others that have occurred as part of the war that Duterte’s administration declared against drug dealers and drug users, there are many concerns regarding the extent to which such policies and directives can be open to abuse by authorities, leading to lower level users or even those who do not use these drugs being targeted with violence. The very core of such harsh responses to the drug problem includes propagating cycles of violence along with high rates of collateral damage and the loss of human life. Violence being the very pillar of this war on drugs approach is very problematic from a social welfare perspective, and the way that these policies seem to grade people in terms of their social status makes those deemed of lower status much more vulnerable to authoritarian violence. In addressing the issues related to the use and distribution of drugs, this response has failed to curtail those harms while introducing many other harms in the process, thus making life significantly less safe for marginalized populations in the Philippines.

Given the issues that the Philippines are facing, in terms of the drug trade as well as the nature of the response against drug dealers and drug users, a comprehensive non-violent approach is important. A move towards decriminalization of illicit drugs would provide an important opportunity to de-incentivize the drug trade, along with the opportunity to provide compassionate services and programs to people with drug addiction. Instead of going after the drug users, via violence and incarceration, social programs can be used to address the various needs of drug users, thus giving them a better foundation with which they can successfully combat their addictions. The approach of using violence and government authority to curtail drug dealers and drug users has failed significantly and left many dead. Such approaches do not give people the opportunity to improve their lives and escape cycles that may be perpetuating and promoting the use of various substances. With the opportunity to live instead of die, while having established programs and support systems to address various issues, crime rates can be effectively lowered while neighbourhoods can be reinvigorated.

The challenge in implementing such decriminalization measures lies primarily in certain norms and perspectives, which influence public perceptions around the use of drugs and drug addiction. Given the challenge of implementing decriminalization and other harm reduction methods in Western nations with a high rate of development, implementing these sorts of measures in the Philippines is a greater challenge. The primary objective of a measure to address these issues is that of the avoidance of violence. The way with which the police forces in the Philippines interact with possible suspects is also in need of reform, to avoid escalating situations and avoid the preemptive use of lethal force. Particularly, the war on drugs seems to violently target drug users, making their drug use a death sentence. The issue of police force corruption and abuses is a major concern, to the point where Duterte has expressed concern and promised to crack down on corrupt police officers. The war on drugs and its underlying violence provides a mechanism with which abuses by figures of authority can be easily carried out. An approach to the handling the trade of various drugs, which is complicated by the number of islands in the Philippines, must avoid violence whenever possible so that vulnerable individuals and those with no connection to the drug trade can avoid becoming victims of authoritarian violence.

To promote these approaches to the issues surrounding the drug trade in the Philippines and the associated war on drugs, political pressure and activism is highly important. As evidenced by the death of Kian Delos Santos, public opinion and pressure placed on political bodies have the potential to generate changes within governmental institutions. With the successful and effective mobilization of these methods, there is a stronger ability to make the voices of those wanting an alternative to the war on drugs in the Philippines to be heard. Then the direction of the war on drugs can be altered significantly, while more effective alternatives can rise forth.

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