After Duterte, fight vs drugs keeps anti-poor face
DRUG WAR composite image from Inquirer file photos
MANILA, Philippines—The killings in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s war on drugs may not be as massive as Rodrigo Duterte’s, but like in the first few years of the previous administration, the poor are still the most targeted.
Based on data from Dahas, an initiative of the UP Third World Studies Center to keep track of drug-related killings, 702 individuals have been documented as dead in drug campaign-related killings in the first two years of Marcos—July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024.
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This, even when he himself declared that his war on drugs would be bloodless in stark contrast with Duterte’s.
Marcos pointed out that the government “adhere[s] to the established ‘8 Es’ of an effective anti-illegal drugs strategy.”
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Marcos on drug war gains: No killings involved
Article continues after this advertisement“Extermination was never one of them,” he said in his latest State of the Nation Address.
However, last July, the month Marcos said this, 38 people have been killed in the drug war, bringing the total to 740. The following month, 30 individuals have been documented as dead.
Killing the poor
As Dahas stated, since the start of the presidency of Marcos, “low-level peddlers still make up the bulk of those killed in the drug war,” saying that out of the 702 killed from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024, only 86 were high-value individuals, or HVIs.
GRAPHIC by Ed Lustan
The rest were drug pushers (263); drug users (45); and those with prior drug record (259), while 49 did not have links to the illegal drug trade, Dahas said in two separate reports.
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Dahas said that state agents remain “prominently involved” in the drug-related killings, being responsible for 46.78 percent and 34.26 percent of all the deaths in the first and second years of the presidency of Marcos.
GRAPHIC by Ed Lustan
This, as from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024, 283 of the 702 killings were committed by state agents such as members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The rest were committed by non-state agents, or any private individual who does not fall within the definition of a state agent (106); unidentified assailants, or those seen by witnesses but not identified (240); and unknown assailants (73).
Who killed who?
Last year, Marcos said that while the war on drugs is not yet over, “it has taken on a new face,” stressing that “it is now geared towards community-based treatment, rehabilitation, education, and reintegration.”
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A year on, however, killings lingered, with Cebu (109) and Davao del Sur (104) emerging as the two provinces with the highest number of documented drug-related killings since the start of the new administration.
GRAPHIC by Ed Lustan
Based on data from Dahas 41 HVIs were killed by state agents in the second year of the presidency of Marcos, or from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. One victim was killed by an assailant that was not identified.
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While this may be consistent with Marcos’ declaration of a relentless crackdown on HVIs, saying that “[He is] not interested in the kid who makes P100 a week selling weed,” state agents killed 64 low-level peddlers, too:
- Drug pushers: 64
- Drug users: 7
- Individuals with previous drug record: 11
Assailants not identified came second, killing 37 drug pushers, 14 drug users, 79 individuals with previous drug record, and 4 individuals with no known links to the illegal drug trade.
It is how it is?
When Duterte was still president, he addressed criticisms that his war on drugs is only targeting the poor, saying that “you cannot stop the movement of drugs in the entire country if you will not kill them all.”
“That’s just how it is,” he said.
As pointed out by Amnesty International, while Duterte was elected on promises for the poor, especially of reducing persistent inequality, an industry of murder has thrived, at the expense of the poor.
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But as the Drug Archive Philippines said, “one of the hidden costs of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ is the toll it has taken on poor families who have lost loved ones to the drug killings.”
“Many of them are traumatized by having witnessed the violence done to their kin and have no means of providing for their most basic needs, as in many cases those targeted by the police are their families’ breadwinners,” it said.
‘Real solutions needed’
The Drug Archive Philippines, an initiative of a research consortium, said that “there is a growing body of evidence from all around the world that suggests that drugs should be dealt with as a public health, rather than law enforcement, issue.”
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“The Philippines needs anti drug policies, approaches, and tactics that are responsive to the emerging evidence from around the world and to the changing contexts of drug use,” it pointed out.
- Health-based rehabilitation programs adapted to Filipino culture and communities.
- Enforcement actions focused on reducing supply by investing time and resources on in-depth investigations that will result in the capture of high-level drug suppliers rather than low-level dealers.
- Reduction of demand by investing in prevention programs that are informed by a rigorous study of reasons for why individuals start and sustain drug use.
