Major Events of Philippine Drug War

Early months[edit]
In speeches made after his inauguration on June 30, Duterte urged citizens to kill suspected
criminals and drug addicts. He said he would order police to adopt a shoot-to-kill policy, and would
offer them a bounty for dead suspects.[12] On July 2, 2016, the Communist Party of the
Philippines stated that it "reiterates its standing order for the NPA to carry out operations to disarm
and arrest the chieftains of the biggest drug syndicates, as well as other criminal syndicates involved
in human rights violations and destruction of the environment" after its political wing Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan accepted Cabinet posts in the new government.[24][25] On July 3, 2016,
the Philippine National Police said they had killed 30 alleged drug dealers since Duterte was sworn
in as president on June 30.[26][27] They later stated they had killed 103 suspects between May 10 and
July 7.[28]
On July 9, 2016, a spokesperson of the president told critics to show proof that there have
been human rights violations in the Drug War.[28] The situation likened to the dictatorship
of Ferdinand Marcos.[29] Later that day, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said it was open to
collaborate with police in the Drug War.[30]
On August 3, 2016, Duterte said that the Sinaloa cartel and the Chinese triad are involved in the
Philippine drug trade. A presidential spokesperson said that Duterte welcomed a proposed
Congressional investigation into extrajudicial killings to be chaired by Senator Leila de Lima, his
chief critic in the government.[31] On August 7, 2016, Duterte named more than 150 drug
suspects including local politicians, police, judges, and military.[32][33] On August 8, 2016 the United
States expressed concerns over the extrajudicial killings.[34]
On August 17, 2016, Duterte announced that de Lima had been having an affair with a married man,
her driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan. Duterte claimed that Dayan was her collector for drug money, who
had also himself been using drugs.[35] In a news conference on August 21, 2016, Duterte announced
that he had in his possession wiretaps and ATM records which confirmed his allegations. He stated:
"What is really crucial here is that because of her [romantic] relationship with her driver which I
termed 'immoral' because the driver has a family and wife, that connection gave rise to the
corruption of what was happening inside the national penitentiary." Dismissing fears for Dayan's
safety, he added, "As the President, I got this information … as a privilege. But I am not required to
prove it in court. That is somebody else's business. My job is to protect public interest. She's lying
through her teeth." He explained that he had acquired the new evidence from an unnamed foreign
country.[36]
On August 18, 2016, United Nations human rights experts called on the Philippines to halt
extrajudicial killings. Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, stated
that Duterte had given a "license to kill" to his citizens by encouraging them to kill.[37][38] In response,
Duterte threatened to withdraw from the UN and form a separate group with African nations and
China. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella later clarified that the Philippines was not leaving
the UN.[39] As the official death toll reached 1,800, a Congressional investigation of the killings
chaired by de Lima was opened.[40]
On August 23, 2016, the Philippine human rights commission said that the International Criminal
Court may have jurisdiction over the mass killings.[41] On August 25, Duterte released a "drug matrix"
supposedly linking government officials, including de Lima, with the New Bilibid Prison drug
trafficking scandal.[42] De Lima stated that the "drug matrix" was like something drawn by a 12-year-
old child. She added, "I will not dignify any further this so-called 'drug matrix' which, any ordinary
lawyer knows too well, properly belongs in the garbage can."[43][44]
On August 26, 2016, the official death total reached 2,000.[45] On August 29, Duterte called on de
Lima to resign and "hang herself".[46] In a speech Duterte rejected comparisons between his policies
and those of the Islamic State or Syrian President Bashar Assad.[47]

State of emergency
Following the September 2 bombing in Davao City that killed 14 people in the city's central business
district, on September 3, 2016, Duterte declared a "state of lawlessness", and on the following day
signed a declaration of a "state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in
Mindanao".[48][49] The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP)
were ordered to "suppress all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao" and to "prevent lawless
violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere". Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said
that the declaration "does not specify the imposition of curfews", and would remain in force
indefinitely. He explained: "The recent incidents, the escape of terrorists from prisons, the
beheadings, then eventually what happened in Davao. That was the basis."[50][49] The state of
emergency has been seen as an attempt by Duterte to "enhance his already strong hold on power,
and give him carte blanche to impose further measures" in the Drug War.[51]

September–December 2016[edit]
On September 5, 2016, with 2,400 people dead so far, Duterte repeated that "plenty will be killed" in
the Drug War.[52] U.S. President Barack Obama cancelled a scheduled meeting with Duterte after
Duterte referred to Obama as a "son of a whore".[53][54]
On September 19, 2016, the Senate voted 16-4 to remove de Lima from her position heading the
Senate committee, in a motion brought by senator and boxer Manny Pacquiao.[55] Duterte's allies in
the Senate argued that by allowing Matobato's testimony, de Lima had damaged the country's
reputation. She was replaced by Senator Richard Gordon.[56] Duterte told reporters that he wanted "a
little extension of maybe another six months" in the Drug War, as there were so many drug
offenders and criminals that he "cannot kill them all".[57][58] On the following day, a convicted bank
robber and two former prison officials testified that they had paid bribes to de Lima. She denies the
allegations.[59]
At a press conference on September 30, 2016, on his arrival in Davao City after a two-day official
visit in Vietnam,[60] Duterte appeared to make a comparison between the Drug War and The
Holocaust.[61] He said that "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug
addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them."[61] His remarks generated an international outcry. US
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the statement was "deeply troubling".[62][63] The German
government told the Philippine ambassador that Duterte's remarks were "unacceptable."[64] On
October 2, Duterte made an apology to the Jewish community following his remarks. He said that he
did not mean to derogate the memory of 6 million Jews slaughtered by the Germans.[65][66]
At the beginning of October, a senior police officer told The Guardian that 10 "special ops" official
police death squads had been operating, each consisting of 15 police officers. The officer said that
he had personally been involved in killing 87 suspects, and described how the corpses had their
head wrapped in masking tape with a cardboard placard labelling them as a drug offender so that
the killing would not be investigated, or they were dumped at the roadside ("salvage" victims). The
chairman of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, Chito Gascon, was quoted in the report:
"I am not surprised, I have heard of this." The PNP declined to comment. The report stated:
"although the Guardian can verify the policeman's rank and his service history, there is no
independent, official confirmation for the allegations of state complicity and police coordination in
mass murder."[67]
On October 28, 2016, incumbent Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom
and nine others (including his five bodyguards) were killed during what was described as a shootout
by the police after they reportedly engaged Dimaukom's group during an anti-illegal drug operation in
Makilala, North Cotabato.[68][69] Dimaukom was among the drug list named by Duterte on August 7.[70]
On November 1, 2016, it was reported that the US State Department had halted the sale of
26,000 assault rifles to the PNP after opposition from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee due
to concerns about human rights violations. A police spokesman said they had not been informed.
PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa suggested China as a possible alternative supplier.[71][72] On November
7, Duterte reacted to the US decision to halt the sale by announcing that he was "ordering its
cancellation".[73]
In the early morning of November 5, 2016, incumbent Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.,
who had been detained at Baybay City Sub-Provincial Jail for violation of the Comprehensive
Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, was killed in what was described as a shootout inside his jail cell with
personnel from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).[74] According to the CIDG,
Espinosa opened fire on police agents who were executing a search warrant for "illegal
firearms."[75] A hard drive of CCTV footage which may have recorded the shooting of Espinosa is
missing, a provincial official said.[76] Espinosa had turned himself in to PNP after being named in
Duterte's drug list in August.[77][78] He was briefly released but then re-arrested for alleged drug
possession. The president of the National Union of People's Lawyers, Edre Olalia, told local
broadcaster TV5 that the police version of events was "too contrived". He pointed out that a search
warrant is not required to search a jail cell. "Such acts make a mockery of the law, taunt impunity
and insult ordinary common sense." Espinosa was the second official to be killed in the Drug
War.[79][80]
Following the incident, on the same day, Senator Panfilo Lacson sought to resume the investigation
of extrajudicial killings after it was suspended on October 3, 2016 by the Senate Committee on
Justice and Human Rights.[81][82]
On November 28, 2016, Duterte appeared to threaten that human rights workers would be targeted:
"The human rights [defenders] say I kill. If I say: 'Okay, I'll stop'. They [drug users] will multiply. When
harvest time comes, there will be more of them who will die. Then I will include you among them
because you let them multiply." Amnesty International Philippines stated that Duterte was "inciting
hate towards anyone who expresses dissent on his war against drugs." The National Alliance
against Killings Philippines stated: "His comment - that human rights is part of the drug problem and,
as such, human rights advocates should be targeted too - can be interpreted as a declaration of an
open season on human rights defenders".[83]
On December 8, 2016, the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights issued a report stating
that there was "no evidence sufficient to prove that a Davao Death Squad exists", and "no proof that
there is a state-sponsored policy to commit killings to eradicate illegal drugs in the country." Eleven
senators signed the report, while senators Leila De Lima, JV Ejercito, Antonio Trillanes IV and
Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto did not sign the report or did not subscribe to its findings.[84]

January–May 2017[edit]
Kidnapping and killing of Jee Ick-Joo[edit]
Main article: Kidnapping and killing of Jee Ick-Joo
Following criticism of the Philippine National Police over the kidnapping and killing of Jee Ick-Joo,
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the police to suspend any drug related operations while allowing
the military and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to continue to conduct anti-illegal drug
operations.
Amnesty International investigation[edit]
On January 31, 2017, Amnesty International (AI) published a report of their investigation of 59 drug-
related killings in 20 cities and towns, "If you are poor you are killed": Extrajudicial Executions in the
Philippines' "War on Drugs", which "details how the police have systematically targeted mostly poor
and defenceless people across the country while planting 'evidence', recruiting paid killers, stealing
from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports." They stated: "Amnesty International
is deeply concerned that the deliberate, widespread and systematic killings of alleged drug
offenders, which appear to be planned and organized by the authorities, may constitute crimes
against humanity under international law."[85]
A police officer with the rank of Senior Police Officer 1, a ten-year veteran of a Metro Manila anti-
illegal drugs unit, told AI that police are paid 8,000 pesos (US $161) to 15,000 pesos (US $302) per
"encounter" (the term used for extrajudicial executions disguised as legitimate operations); there is
no payment for making arrests. He said that some police also receive a payment from the funeral
home they send the corpses to. Hitmen hired by police are paid 5,000 pesos (US $100) for each
drug user killed and 10,000 to 15,000 pesos (US $200–300) for each "drug pusher" killed, according
to two hitmen interviewed by AI.[85]
Family members and witnesses repeatedly contested the police description of how people were
killed. Police descriptions bore striking similarities from incident to incident; official police reports in
several cases documented by Amnesty International claim the suspect’s gun “malfunctioned” when
he tried to fire at police, after which they shot and killed him. In many instances, the police try to
cover up unlawful killings or ensure convictions for those arrested during drug-related operations by
planting “evidence” at crime scenes and falsifying incident reports—both practices the police officer
said were common.

— Amnesty International report “If you are poor you are killed”: Extrajudicial Executions in the
Philippines’ “War on Drugs”[86]

The report makes a series of recommendations to Duterte and government officials and
departments. If certain key steps are not swiftly taken, it recommends that the International Criminal
Court "initiate a preliminary examination into unlawful killings in the Philippines’s violent anti-drug
campaign and related crimes under the Rome Statute, including the involvement of government
officials, irrespective of rank and status."[86]
The Guardian and Reuters stated that the report added to evidence they had published previously
about police extrajudicial executions. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella responded to the
report, saying that Senate committee investigations proved that there had been no state-sponsored
extrajudicial killings.[87][88] In an interview on February 4, Duterte told a reporter that AI was "so naive
and so stupid", and "a creation of [George] Soros". He asked, "Is that the only thing you [de Lima]
can produce? The report of Amnesty?"[89]
Universal Periodic Review
On May 5, 2017, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, a staunch ally of Pres. Duterte, led the 16-member
Philippine delegation to attend the UN’s Universal Periodic Review to present the state of human
rights in the Philippines and dispel reports that killings linked to the drug war were state-
sponsored. [90]
[Fake news] created a domino effect of the foreign media, picking up from news reports in the
Philippines, which also alerted human rights groups, which are also getting the wrong information

— Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano[91]

Cayetano explained that of 9,432 total of homicide cases recorded under the Duterte administration,
only 2,692 deaths were from presumed legitimate law enforcement operations. He claimed that "in
the past administrations, there was a 'low of 11,000 and a high of 16,000' cases of extra-judicial
killings (EJKs).[91]