Aklan State University

College of Teacher Education

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Banga, Aklan

CASE ANALYSIS NUMBER 1:

“DUTERTE’S WAR ON DRUGS

_WACAN, HONELYN, RARIO_

MAED-Social Science Student

This Case Analysis is hereby submitted to DR. RHETT HIBAYA

MOTUS, SMRIEDr., faculty member of the Graduate Studies of
Aklan State University, Banga, Aklan, Philippines in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course

Social Science 106- Contemporary Philippine Social

Problems

1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020

Rating: _____________
A drug is any substance which, when taken into the
body, alters the body’s function either physically and/or
psychologically. It may be legal (e.g. alcohol, caffeine and
tobacco) or illegal (e.g. cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and
heroin). Psychoactive drugs affect the central nervous
system and alter a person's mood, thinking and behaviour.
Psychoactive drugs may be divided into four categories:
depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens and 'other'.
(https://drugaware.com.au/getting-the-facts/faqs-ask-a-
question/what-are-drugs/#what-is-drug-addiction)

The effects of drugs will vary from person to person

depending on the persons characteristics (such as physical
size, gender, mood, diet, fitness, age, expectations and
health), the drug itself (such as the amount used and its
purity), and how it is taken and the environment a person is
in when using the drug.

Some people become depressed, angry, aggressive,

sleepy, unmotivated, paranoid, anxious or talkative. Drug
use can also lead to social and emotional problems and
negative effects on relationships with family and friends.
People use drugs for a variety of reasons to have fun,
relax, forget problems or as a form of escapism, to gain
confidence and socialise, out of curiosity,to lessen
inhibitions, to remove personal responsibility for
decisions, to celebrate or commiserate, to relieve boredom
and stress and to cope with problems.

Drug use can impact on your physical and mental health.

It can also lead to social problems and have negative
effects on relationships with family and friends. As some
drugs are illegal, there can also be legal ramifications
associated with drug use. Addiction is a complex issue and
affects everyone differently. This can depend on the type of
drug used, amount used and the length of time the drugs have
been used for. Some drugs are more physically addictive
while others are mentally or socially addictive. Drug use
can lead to tolerance and dependence.

The impact of drug abuse affect the whole community or

the entire society.These are reasons why Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte has carried out a “war on drugs”

since 2016. According to him, drug dealing and drug

addiction were major obstacles to the Philippines’ economic

and social progress. He told the people from the start, “If
I make it to the presidential palace I will do just what I
did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings,
you better get out because I'll kill you.”
(https://www.hrw.org/tag/philippines-war-drugs) His language
has been understood as an endorsement of extrajudicial
killings but not to some who believed in his campaign.

This article of Lucio Blanco Pitlo III delineated

Duterte’s “War on Drugs” campaign.

The other side of Duterte’s war on drugs:

rehabilitation, rescue and rooting out corruption

While the death toll in Philippine President Rodrigo

Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign has been the focus of
international attention, the government’s massive
rehabilitation effort and anti-corruption measures tend to
be ignored. Overemphasis on a single aspect of the
Philippines’ war on drugs – the death toll – clouds
international perceptions of President Rodrigo Duterte’s
signature campaign. Less publicised by the media is the
health dimension of the campaign. Five months after
commencing the crackdown, the government opened the
country’s biggest drug rehabilitation facility. By the end
of 2018, three more regional rehabilitation centres had been
built, with plans to construct more. Developing and running
effective rehabilitation programmes also present
opportunities to work with local and international
partners.Duterte framed his drug war as an existential
challenge – a fight to preserve peace and order and a
crusade to save the country’s youth. “If you destroy the
youth of my land, I will kill you” has been a recurring
threat in his pronouncements on the subject. Since his time
as mayor of Davao, Duterte’s campaign against crime and the
illegal drug trade has been unrelenting, catapulting him to
national prominence. However, for all the hype that it has
attracted, Duterte’s attitude to drugs is no regional
exception. Many of the country’s neighbours, including
China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, have
waged crackdowns to eradicate drugs and impose the death
penalty for drug-related crimes.

Duterte’s concerns are not unfounded. With porous

maritime borders, the presence of non-state armed groups,
collusion of corrupt officials and a climate conducive to
the cultivation of opium, the country runs the risk of
sliding into a narco-state. The drug trade sustains the
proliferation of rebel, terrorist and criminal outfits. The
Philippines is also located near the Golden Triangle, the
area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet
and where a substantial global supply of opium is sourced.
Rights groups have long contested official drug war death
figures, accusing the police of engaging in extrajudicial
killings,of condoning vigilante-style attacks and
deliberately targeting poor, small-time drug peddlers.
Concerns about collateral damage and the slow progress of
cases against police officers suspected of abuses have also
been raised.
Nevertheless, official figures suggest that killing is
not the campaign’s key objective. From July 2016 to December
2018, 117,385 anti-drug operations were conducted, resulting
in the arrest of 167,135 and the death of 5,104 people
suspected to be involved in the drug trade. In that period,
285 drug dens and laboratories were dismantled, 1,954
children rescued and 25.62 billion Philippine pesos (US$490
million) worth of drugs and laboratory equipment seized.
Meanwhile, 87 police officers were killed and 227 wounded in
the line of duty.
The government recently released a list of “narco-
officials” and warned them to desist from taking part in the
drug trade. In November 2018, three police officers were
convicted of murdering a minor in an anti-drug operation
that drew a popular outcry. Duterte has taken radical
measures to implement his war on drugs. When reports
surfaced that high-profile inmates of the country’s main
penitentiary live in luxury and were even able to carry on
their drug business while incarcerated, he had jail guards
replaced by the elite police Special Action Force. Personnel
were frequently rotated to avoid the possibility of them
getting familiar with inmates and thus becoming susceptible
to corruption. Following the controversial deaths of minors
in anti-drug operations in Caloocan in October 2017, the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) took over the
reins of the drug war from the Philippine National Police
(PNP). Duterte would later recall the PNP to the front line
after realising the constraints of the understaffed PDEA.

Philippines plans to take drug war to schools with

searches, testing.

When a shipment containing drugs entered the country

last year, Duterte had the commissioner and department heads
of the Customs Bureau removed and temporarily put the
military in command. A previous customs commissioner had
been replaced in 2017 for failing to thwart the entry of a
drug shipment. Rehabilitation remains an underappreciated
component of Duterte’s drug war. More than 1.2 million drug
users and pushers surrendered from 2016 to early 2017.
Police commanders were tasked with monitoring their
whereabouts to ensure they do not resume their old ways.
Some underwent rehabilitation – 316,494 graduated from
recovery and wellness programmes.

In 2016, the country’s biggest drug rehabilitation

centre, a 10,000-bed facility, opened in Nueva Ecija. Three
drug rehabilitation centres in Mindanao followed – the 60-
bed Agusan facility opened in September 2016, while the 576-
bed Bukidnon and 150-bed Saranggani centres were completed
late last year. Davao will soon have its second drug
rehabilitation centre. The health department announced that
11 more such centres are scheduled for completion late this
year. Twenty-three reformation centres were also
established. Drug rehabilitation also opened a new facet in
Philippine-China cooperation, with China helping to build
the three new large rehabilitation centres.
 The other side of Duterte’s war on drugs

Despite negative publicity, 2017 and 2018 opinion polls show

a high level of public support for the drug war. Colombia,
Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia have expressed
interest in replicating the PNP’s Oplan Tokhang (“knock and
plead” strategy) to convince drug users and pushers to cease
their drug-related activities and reform. The country
also won a seat in the United Nations Human Rights Council
last year. As the drug war enters its third year, the front
line may shift to rehabilitation. While calling out law
enforcement for excesses, church, civil society and foreign
partners should expand on ways to contribute to this end.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III is a research fellow at the Asia-

Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, a lecturer on
Chinese Studies at Ateneo de Manila University and
contributing editor (reviews) for the Asian Politics &
Policy Journal. He also sits on the Board of the Philippine
Association for China Studies
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and
crime/article/3027364/hong-kong-protests-man-seriously-hurt-
after-attack

ANLYSIS:
This article cited President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s
struggles and efforts to elliminate illegal drugs in our
country, save lives as it hinders the Philippines’ economic
and social progress. For me, I am in fvaor of his campaign
against illigal drugs. He may have upped the estimates to
challenge law enforcement to do more. We should not only focused on
the sigle aspect as the anti-narcotics campaign we must look at the
government’s massive rehabilitation effort and anti-
corruption measures.But we cannot blame the people
especially the families of the said to accused drug peddlers
and users who were killed to opposed gainst what they said
extrajudicial killings. The construction of drug
rehabilitation facilities to address the illigal drug
suspects to change their lives and cater their health
aspects. I think it is the right way to preserve peace and
order. As we observed, many crimes especially rape and
murder that the suspects admitted that they in the influence
of illegal drugs while doing the crime.

Being a former mayor of Davao, Duterte saw the positive

effects of his campaign against crime and the illegal drug
trade has been unrelenting, catapulting him to national
prominence. In spite of the all critisism and oppositions
Duterte’s attitude to drugs is no regional exception has
attracted many of our neighbouring countries, including
China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, have
waged crackdowns to eradicate drugs and even impose the
death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Duterte’s he worried about the country’s being passable

because of porous maritime borders, we are perilous with the
presence of non-state armed groups, collusion of corrupt
officials and a climate conducive to the cultivation of
opium. The Philippines is also located near the Golden
Triangle, the area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and
Thailand meet and where a substantial global supply of opium
is sourced. The President must do something to tighten the
security of the concerned agency so that the illegal drugs
will not penetrate our country and get to know where the
supplies of illegal drugs came from.
I think he is right that the the country runs the risk
of sliding into a narco-state. The drug trade not only
support but sustains the increase the of rebel, terrorist
and criminal outfits or group of people working together to
do criminal activities or worse terrorist attacks like the
Marawi Seige, the longest urban battle in the modern history
of the Philippines that killed lives of the civilians and
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Inspite of
these many people are asking what have been the outcomes of
the drug war? According to Rappler, by early December,
nearly 6,000 people had been killed: about 2,100 have died
in police operations and the remainder in what are called
“deaths under investigation,” which is shorthand for
vigilante killings. There are also claims that half a
million to seven hundred thousand people have surrendered
themselves to the police. More than 40,000 people have been
arrested.

Human rights organizations (Commission on Human Rights),

political leaders and rights groups have spoken out the have
long contested against official drug war death figures,
accusing the police of engaging in extrajudicial killings,of
condoning vigilante-style attacks and deliberately targeting
poor, small-time drug peddlers instead of cutting down the
roots of these drug suppliers. It is said that there are no
trials, so there is no evidence that the people being
killed. Drug dealers and drug addicts are a stigmatized
group, and stigmatized groups always have difficulty gaining
political support for the defense of their rights.
People are criticizing and are against the collateral
damage like in the case of for 3-year-old Myca Ulpina, one
of the most recent — and the youngest known — victims of a
war on drugs that has become so deadly and murky it is
almost impossible to track how many have been killed. Ulpina
was what police called “collateral damage,” an unintended
death among some 6,600 people whom police say they have
killed in shootouts during President Rodrigo Duterte
campaign. The police said that toddler’s father, Renato,
whom they said used his daughter as a human shield during
the drug operation. The slow progress of cases against
police officers suspected of abuses have also been raised
and make the family of the victims gained symphaty from the
people and the Comission on Human Rights. For me, if the
father is innocent, then the little child is really a
collateral damage of the incident but if the father is
guilty of the crime, he is the one responsible for the
tragic mistake that causes his daughters death. The head of
the family must be the role model and in protector of their
family members, but in this case I am so saddend that the
head of the family is the one who cost the life of his
child. We’ll we cannot blame them for engaging in such
illegal activities, maybe because of poverty that they don’t
have any choice but to take the risk to engage on this.

The negative publicity did not slow down the real

objective of the campaign which is to elliminate illegal
drugs in the country it still gained public suppoort. These
are the reasons why Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican
Republic and Indonesia have expressed interest in
replicating the PNP’s Oplan Tokhang (“knock and plead”
strategy) that really convince drug users and pushers to
cease their drug-related activities and reform and only few
goes back to their illegal activities.

For me President Rodrigo Roa Duterte must take a

strong grip and command to ensure that the Philippine
National Police is doing the right thing in every drug
operation to avoid implication of innocent people during the
operation. He must do something about these police officers
who killed innocent people just for the their promotion to
stop the said extra-judicial killings. The abusive action
sof these police officers tend to degrade their reputation
and the main objective of the campaign against drugs. But
there are suspects that there families are not aware that
they are involved in these kind of illegal activities and
they tend to tell the people that they are innocent and not
even involed in drug using and selling.

On my part, we could not blame the President Duterte

for the killings its the Philippine National Police who are
responsible to correct these kind of controversy. I sallute
our Phillippine National Police who are trying their best to
significantly reduce, if not totally eliminate illegal drugs
in the country, but they still have more work needs to be
done. As a citizen of this country, we cannot deny the fact
that the campaign was really effective, many drug users and
drug pushers curtail their illegal activities and live a
normal lives.