On May 9, 2022, the Filipino people elected their future leaders, creating repercussions that will affect the collective for decades. In the same month, it will also be officially six years since President Rodrigo Duterte was elected.
Whether or not you believe that President Duterte is a good president, one reason for his win back in 2016 was undoubtedly his promise to eradicate drugs.
With a track record of decreasing crime rates in Davao (such as from a 3-digit crime rate per 10,000 in 1985 to only in the double-digits by 2014), Duterte gained the trust and support of many for his cause. As the country nears the end of the Duterte administration, many admit that the drug war was a complete failure—including Duterte himself at a Malabon Rally in 2019. He blamed the corruption undermining police efforts and the lack of the death penalty. With a new turning point in our history approaching, it is critical to analyze what went wrong with one of our country’s greatest governmental failures so that we do not make the same mistakes again.
First, the Duterte administration’s war on drugs was principally wrong because it enabled over 29,000 extrajudicial killings (EJKs). Duterte made several statements inciting civilians to kill suspected drug users, with the most prominent one in his inauguration speech: “If you know any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself.”
Even if these extrajudicial killings had successfully eliminated drug use, it would still not have been justified because of the innocent lives lost in the process—-especially the more than a hundred children killed. Those participating in EJKs justify their actions by saying that drug pushers ruin peoples’ lives. While this may be true, no motive can make murder moral, especially if such will risk the lives of the innocent.
On a practical note, trying to justify vigilante justice is detrimental to our society’s stability—as it dissuades Filipinos from turning to the court of law for justice. This would eventually lead to chaos as citizens take the law into their own hands.
Simply put, the end never justifies the means. The painful reality is that the drug issue is as terrible as ever and was only exacerbated by the pandemic as stated by the UNODC. Thus, the idea of “the end justifies the means” cannot even be applied, and these lives were lost with no good outcome.
Another cause of the drug war’s downfall is that only small-time pushers were caught. Killing small drug pushers essentially does nothing because as long as the heads are present, they will simply find more pushers. This sentiment was echoed by Vice President Leni Robredo, who also attributed the drug war’s failure to this. She cited that successful drug wars, instead, focused on capturing the head-to-stop cartels. One may argue that catching pushers may lead to them revealing information to capture the head. However, many refuse to do so, as they’ll be killed upon release.
Although catching small-time pushers painted pretty statistics, it ultimately acted as smoke and mirrors to disguise the stagnation and worsening of the drug issue. It also protected the heads who are likely the upper members of society as it looks like something is being done.
Above all else, the drug war failed to account for poverty: the true catalyst behind drug addiction. With minimal requirements for education and skill sets, pushing has been the alternative for many to support themselves in poverty. Studies such as the one by the Saint Joseph Institute of Addiction in 2018 show that addiction is also linked to poverty as the poor are more likely to suffer from stress and self-esteem issues, with little access to support.
Simply put, if poverty is not addressed and mitigated, neither will the drug issue.
Discussing the failures of the drug war is futile if we do not learn from it. If we continue to treat addicts as criminals instead of those who require medical intervention and financial aid, the drug issue will likely get worse.
This may be our future reality as many of our new presidential candidates, such as candidates Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Panfilo Lacson, and Isko Moreno, seek to continue the drug war through punishment. They have stated that they will continue the drug war by eliminating the heads and incarcerating the guilty despite overwhelming evidence against this recourse.
There is a clear pattern seen in the countries that have won the war on drugs: they treat addiction as more of a social issue than a crime.
The demonization of victims of circumstance will not allow us to move forward, and the only way to win the war on drugs is by not having one.