Our country of birth is imbued with a corrupted culture, brought about by centuries of occupation that

resulted in an embrace of values that raises more questions than answers but we seem not to want to ask.

However, if we are that determined to transform the only country we all could call home, I think it
necessary for us to face the truths about who we are and how we’ve come to be.

--------------------------------

if i understood, duterte allowed police to fire if the people involved in drugs have a weapon, or gun, allow
to shoot first…

why should police wait for those criminals to shoot at them and risk their life, …when a drug dealer dies,
all those duterte opponent brings the matter to the medias, but

A few days ago a policeman has been killed in iloilo by a drug dealer, have you heard about it? no, only on
radio. that man had family too… duterte is runing after Iloilo s mayor, so those kind of news is disturbing
for the mayor so it got censured.

----------------------------------

However, people should be wise enough not to implicate all these killings to the government unless the
facts and pieces of evidence which are unadulterated are so obvious to be mistaken. There are too many
people, both from the government and private sectors, who are involved in this war. And to impute to the
Duterte administration alone all these EJKs as sensationalized by the mainstream media and by those
politicians who like to get a chunk of the limelight is just rash.

The thing is to let the government do its job within the bounds of the law. Any violations against this, let
the people have their remedies with the proper forum. Let not social media or mainstream media or
grandstanding politicians pollute these issues when they can be properly ventilated before competent trial
courts.

-----------------------------------

Yet… Killings like these have been happening for decades. It’s only coming out now because there are
politicians and people with vested interests making a big deal out of it using Social Media as there
weapon. I’m not condoning these killings, but people are losing focus on the bigger picture — that these
Extra-Judicial Killings have always been there, and there have always been a lot of bad, corrupt police
men in the force, as anyone who’s ever been flagged down by a traffic enforcer knows.

It’s all bad, but the corruption and killings have been there forever. They were there during the PNoy
Administration (Human rights situation in PHL worse under PNoy than Arroyo — rights groups), they
were there during Gloria’s time (Human Rights under the Arroyo Government), during Erap’s time (cut
short, I don’t have the stats for it), during Ramos’ time (killings of journalists rose during ramoss first year
- ucanews.com), and hell yes during Cory’s time especially one of the biggest wanton human rights
massacre violations in broad daylight in modern Philippine History, the Mendiola Massacre (Human
rights abuses under Cory as bad as dictator’s record – Marcos critics’ own data), and yes definitely during
Marcos’ time (the worst of the lot, and I hate that Duterte sees him as some kind of hero - TORTYUR:
Human Rights Violations During The Marcos Regime).

At least now we are seeing some positive results on the other side, with crime and drugs taking
a heavy blow. Overall crime rate falls in first five months of Duterte presidency, PNP: Murder, homicide,
other crimes decreased under Duterte admin, LIST: Duterte admin's 2016 accomplishments

People are much more behaved now and it definitely feels cleaner and safer out there, especially with
more police cars roaming around at night, a sight that used to be as rare as a blue moon.
We don’t get media attention on cop slayings, like what happened in Batangas here: 2 cops killed in
Batangas shooting. Bet you never heard of that one or saw it on your Facebook feed.

Yet things like the Kian Delos Santos incident (Palace: Kian's killing a 'wake-up call') are sensationalized
up the wazoo for the gullilble sheep eating up social media to rile up and destabilize the country. Really
people? Look at the bigger picture. Stop drinking the Kool Aid on Social Media and look at the
data.

Ideally we wouldn’t have these killings, but they’ve always been there. There are people out there
who are trying to fool you into thinking that these atrocities like the Kian Delos Santos case
are only happening now, but they’ve always been there. You just need to open your eyes, do your
research, read up, be more aware, and approach the situation with a level head. Take a look at the
situation from all sides, not the echo chambers on your feed. I’ve provided you links to the data to look at,
read it all. This tells a more accurate story than any viral story you’ll find on your Facebook feed.

Perhaps some day when all the corruption has been stamped out (not holding my breath) we’ll see that
put to an end, but taking out crime lords and drug addicts now is definitely a step towards that lofty,
seemingly-unattainable goal.

-----------------------------------

I completely absolutely agree with the war on drugs. I’ve seen how meth can destroy a person’s life. I had
an uncle who was the most responsible in the family. He sent some of his siblings to school. He was an
owner of a busy supermarket and he had a nice life. His life totally changed when he got involved in illegal
drugs. The supermarket, farm land, and everything else they had were sold. He and his wife moved to a
vacant lot next to our house and built a small hut where they lived. Everyday, he would get into our house
and take anything he wanted. He stole two bicycles, a stereo set, clothes, antenna pole, money, and things
that he thought he could sell. We were enraged but felt pity on him at the same time so we sent him to a
rehabilitation center where he stayed for 3 years. After getting out of rehabilitation, we thought he would
change. He stopped using meth, but only for a few months. He went back to it, and this time he got worse.
He started hitting his wife. He brought home another woman, and lived with the two. His wife (may she
rest in peace) was very kind and loved him so much, she wouldn’t live him despite everything. Now we’re
just waiting for him to get arrested (or killed by the cops). I’m still hoping he would change, before it’s too
late.

-------------------------------------

On a personal Level, I’d say I feel safer now that those who were known in our community as drug
peddler/protector flee the country when Pres. Duterte came into power. We had this Baranggay Chairman
(In Meycauayan, Bulacan) who’s known (open secret) as a drug protector in our baranggay. He went to
the US after Duterte won the presidency and up until now, he did not came back. He did not
resign/relinquish his government position. just went AWOL. Some of known drug users volutarily
surrendered and straighten up their life. (good for them).

On an International Level, I’d say The international community only sees the killings that happen during
Pres. Duterte’s term. They can’t seem to see the thousands of drug users/pushers who voluntarily
surrendered to the police Thousands of drug pushers, users in biggest surrender under Duterte > this
article came Mid-2016.

Sure death toll rises during this campaign. However, most of the international community don’t
understand that these killings are not entirely the government’s fault. they can’t seem to see that the drug
lords and high-level members of syndicate are capable and have the means to kill their own men just to
erase their link to drug trade or other illegal activities.
Even the count on EJK’s can quite stir an argument. Rappler insists on its ‘7,080-killed’ fake news; resorts
to ad hominem arguments

However, most of the people i know supports this drive against drugs & corruption. The only people i
know who are not in support to these things are :

1. Naive / religious persons (some of my relatives)

2. Supports the Liberal Party blindly
3. hates losing during last election thus has a personal bias on this government.
4. government officials who has some illegal activities as their main livelihood.
------------------------------------------

We don’t have an institutionalized policy to execute every single drug addict here.

Any news that claims otherwise is nothing but black propaganda meant to discredit the true rationale of
the drug war. You know, just like saying that Saddam’s Iraq had WMDs or that the Chinese are being
brainwashed en masse by the CCP. Fake news.

Why did I start with this? The clarification above is meant to inform you that the war is legal. That means
that supporting it doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing. That means that the war isn’t all bad. My
supporting and justifying it isn’t akin to a Turk supporting the Armenian Genocide or a Cambodian
feeling proud of the Khmer Rouge regime, because that’s comparing apples to oranges. You’ll see why.

Say again, we don’t have a Final Solution for the millions of drug addicts here. If there were, I
would never dare to support it and would be among those vocally opposing it. Capisce?

In addition, here’s a disclaimer: I’m not paid to support the war on drugs. I started with this as well
because I’m tired of comments that accuse me of being a troll on the government’s payroll. Anyone paid to
praise the war praises the war in its entirety. That’s unconditional positive regard which the war doesn’t
deserve and you’ll know why as you read on.

My answer will be extremely long, divided into four main sections where I will explain:

1. The nature, rationale and objectives of the war on drugs;

2. The reasons and justifications for my supporting it;
3. The reservations I have against it (and a few more misconceptions to clear up); and
4. The reforms it badly needs.
Unlike the more succinct answers to this question, mine will be both educative and narrative—a huge
portion of which is to justify our collective support, dissect arguments for and against it and clarify even
more misconceptions, and the rest for my own ranting.

I’m not asking you to support the war, if you don’t. That’s not my obligation. I’m only asking you for your
open mind to hear our story out. Polarization and tribalism have caused us to become too intolerant
towards contrary opinions.

Piqued your interest? Read on, but do so at your own risk. Some parts may likely offend you so you either
turn away or read it very well.

Let’s begin with an overview of the nature, rationale and objectives of the war.
What the drug war chiefly seeks to achieve is to disrupt and elimimate the entrenched drug
trade that has caused untold suffering among its many innocent victims, including drug addicts
themselves being afflicted by their adverse effects on the mind and body.

Drugs are a scourge, a menace to society that destroys the lives of drug dependents, their families, and
their victims if they’re involved in criminal activities. Their effects vary from person to person. There
wouldn’t be a problem if shabu (crystal meth) only makes one do harmless acts such as mindlessly
dancing like those junkies in San Francisco. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, they can go so far
as to lead you to become aggressive and violent. Why do you think the Nazis consumed them for their
conquest of Europe? Combine this violence to a predisposition for committing crime and you have a
recipe for disaster.

It can’t be denied this war is violent. After all, it’s a war. Violence is inherent in wars. There are people
dying on the streets and alleyways. The police aren’t the only actors in the carnage. Gangs, vigilantes and
even ordinary people use this war to kill people not even involved in the drug trade and claim they’re
“pushers who shouldn’t be imitated.” Horrible, I know.

But that’s just one side of the war. The bright side is that likewise integrated in the war is a massive
rehabilitation program for drug addicts to help them turn a new leaf and prepare them for their
reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens.

Never heard of this before? Well, that’s why you can’t rely on the media or Human Rights Watch every
time. They almost always show only one side of the coin and distort truths to fit their agenda. They fail to
publicize this as much as they do on the war’s downsides. Negative news gets more clicks and thus
generates more ad revenues. There’s no objectivity in their journalism even though they claim there is.

Over a million drug addicts are reported to have surrendered in fear for their lives. Though there’s no
guarantee every surrenderee follows through with their vows never to touch drugs again, the fact the
government is actively helping drug addicts already disproves the conjecture that the war
is exclusively brutal in nature.

Admittedly, the rehabilitation program is also saddled with problems of its own which lessen the chances
of the war being effective. More information in this article.

So, now, tell me, is there really a government policy designed to kill all the drug addicts in our society?
There’s no sense in doing that if rehabilitation also exists. That’s immoral, impractical and does more
harm than good in the long run.

So, why are your country’s drug addicts being gunned down on the streets? You seem to be
contradicting your own claims.

Mind you, the war on drugs was never designed to target and neutralize lowly drug
addicts for their drug addiction. The name alone proves it. War on drugs. The drug supply and its
agents directly involved in the drug trade—drug lords, pushers and their protectors—are the real targets,
not ordinary drug addicts. It’s not war on drug addicts. It only looks as though it targets them
since many employ violence in resisting arrest. If they don’t, this war wouldn’t be as violent.

If you were a police officer and your squad is pinned down by gunfire by drug suspects as the team raids
their drug den, pray tell, how could you possibly apprehend them with all the bullets whizzing past you?
Since your life is in peril and being a sitting duck is stupid, you’re left with no choice but to return fire.
Hence, many of the killings you hear on the news. Perspective.

Thus, the majority of the deaths is lawful. This means that, in the abovesaid case, you, the police
officer, are off the hook from the imputation of being judge, jury and executioner towards whomever
suspects he killed. He performed his duty honestly, in accordance with law and within bounds of the
prerogatives of police officers.
The same goes with most of our brave men and women in uniform. I don’t think they’re all crooked as
how left-leaning groups and politicians claim they are. One must not demonize the entire police force
which also consists of righteous men and women for the deeds of a corrupt and morally bankrupt few.

But the “majority” also suggests that a few other killings do merit scrutiny to determine its lawfulness.
This is now where I feel a tinge of discomfort and guilt for my support for the war. I will discuss these
killings after the next section.

Now, as to why I specifically support the war, consider this scenario.

It’s late 2015. You’re from the middle class. You live in a modest home and can afford air travel, a good
education and a Venti frappe from Starbucks once in a while. Life is really comfortable for you, or is it?

Although you live in peace and comfort, you know for a fact that you and your family are vulnerable to
becoming victims of crime anytime and anywhere, even in your own home. You had a schoolmate whose
house was robbed and his family tied up as they rummage through their property. Your church’s senior
pastor’s house was also robbed many years ago, his son held at gunpoint and daughter raped. You had
another schoolmate who was recently stabbed to death on the street. The possibility of the same instances
happening to you and your family can’t be ruled out.

You don’t have the luxury of living in Forbes Park, in a house protected by electric fences, a state-of-the-
art surveillance system, and armed guards patrolling the perimeter. This is beyond any of us in the middle
and lower classes could ever afford.

You know that the crime rates in Manila are really high. Your parents prohibit you from walking outside
alone at night. You hear news every night of some female student found lifeless and naked on a grassy
field, raped and stabbed to death, or a toddler found brutally slain, the autopsy also showing signs of rape,
and other news of the sort. The suspects of those heinous crimes were later arrested and tested positive
for drugs. I just want to beat the shit out of them, skin them alive and pour salt over their wounds, you
would always tell yourself.

You also binge-watch Narcos and fear that your country might soon become the next Colombia if nothing
is done to solve the drug crisis. It’s only a matter of time when the Filipino reincarnate of Pablo Escobar
rises.

Being fed up with those existential threats and scary possibilities, you would normally want drastic action
to be taken to dismantle the drug trade and lower rising crime rates. You yearn for change. The
government pops into your mind, but you get disappointed.

Your current president is too soft to act and too secure to experience (or even fathom) your fears. Election
day, on May next year, is fast approaching. You look at the roster of presidential candidates. You
frown. Man, except for Defensor-Santiago, everyone else is rubbish. Voting for either Poe, Roxas or
Binay is voting for six more years of ineptitude and stagnation. You feel hopeless, expecting the same
shit over again.

Then, one day, rising from obscurity is a man who promises to solve crime and drugs—problems none of
the candidates has been campaigning for. He’s a forthright, honest tough-talker. Woah, this is cool! You
take a look at his track record and are impressed. He’s the mayor of Davao in Mindanao who inherited the
city when it was then dubbed a “murder capital” and transformed it to one of the safest cities in the
country. Now, you know exactly whom to support! Finally, after weeks of vacillating over running, he
officially declares his candidacy.

Fast track to election day. This is it. He must win or we waste another six years. You keep your eyes
glued to your television screen. Broadcasting in all news channels is the vote count in realtime. You see his
name on the top. Wow, I didn’t expect he’d be this popular. Few hours in and he’s already beaten that
oligarchic shill Roxas by a million votes. Yes, he’s still in the lead. Just keep going, vote count. Don’t let
Roxas win.

At night, polling stations finally close and the results have been tabulated. You look at the vote count and
rejoice. He won! A six-million lead! I can’t believe he won. This is going to be really good. Now, change
is truly coming.

That was my story, and that of many others as well, considering how our former leaders left us to fend for
ourselves. They plundered our taxes, massacred farmers on strike and pushed us down deeper into
destitution and precarity. These so-called “leaders” are now the Opposition that can’t bear to commend
his efforts and successes, for fear that his rule will be “legitimized”.

I narrated this to make you understand our experiences and sentiments, not to convince
you to support or agree with the war. It’s so easy to misunderstand someone when you lack context
and perspective and lose sight of the bigger picture when your worldview is molded from within the
confines of your ivory tower (or inculcated by those who come from their own ivory towers), sheltered
from all the harsh realities of life we the masses face every day. As my father always tells me, borrowing a
quote from Caesar, experience is the best teacher. Or empathy and an open mind, at least.

You can’t claim to be the ally and friend of the masses, as many do, if you come from a position of
privilege and judge us for our beliefs without even bothering to hear our stories, impose yours upon us in
the hopes that we conform to and adopt them and call us “uneducated, misinformed and in need of your
guidance.” That’s not saving us. That’s called entitlement. We’re not stupid. We don’t need your damn
Messiah complex. We need pragmatic solutions to our problems.

I don’t mean to say that I speak on behalf of all people belonging to the masses. There are also drug war
critics from the lower classes, but the majority of Duterte supporters identifies with them. My relatives
from the lower class, many blue-collar workers I’ve met, the Grab drivers I’ve spoken to, and even my
barber who displays Duterte bands in his shop, support the war on drugs too.

It’s not because we enjoy the bloodshed. We love how the tables have finally turned against drugs and
crime, that problems that haven’t been solved for decades are now being solved. That’s it.

The war on drugs is also, indirectly, a war on crime. Recent crime statistics released by the PNP
proves this and shows us some good news: a significant drop in most crimes all around the country. Our
endorsement of the war is further justified and strengthened.

I have already said that the war focuses only on dismantling the drug trade and its direct agents. Because
of that, innocent people, most especially children, aren’t targets of the war. You should know
by now who and what they are.

As much as I mourn for those whose lives were taken by collateral damage and the families ruined as a
result, that can’t be a reason to stop it. After all, the ratio between the number of collateral damage deaths
and that of legitimate deaths is negligible. That’s a small price to pay for the many lives the war will save
in the long run. And to be fair, collateral damage in a war this magnitude is extremely hard to avoid.

How could you even dare justify collateral damage? In one paragraph, you condemn the deaths of the
innocent and especially of the children. But in the next, you say their deaths are a small price to pay.
You’re a monster.

The simple answer to that is that, morally, I’m a utilitarian. I’m no monster. As Spock said in The Wrath
of Khan, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. In the end, it’s much better that a few
innocent lives be sacrificed than stop the war and allow the drug trade to flourish and take
even more innocent lives. I might add that it’s likewise morally wrong to take the latter choice since
you’ve removed the one thing—imperfect though it is—that’s keeping the tidal wave of crime and violence
from inundating us. Apathy is way deadlier.
I must also say here that, in judging and weighing the pros and cons of a policy, I refrain from being
moved by emotions. I feel sad and livid to see orphaned children and crying people, but it doesn’t mean I
bow in submission to my feelings. The ideal judge renders decisions based on jurisprudence and law, not
on his personal opinions and passions.

But what if it’s one of your loved ones is one of those lives sacrificed? Do you want that? What would
you do if that happens? (I get this a lot and never had a clear answer until recently, so I’ll just address the
question right here).

No, of course not. I would never want that to happen to any of my loved ones. But if it does, to put it
rationally, I can’t blame the war on drugs itself for killing that loved one. After all, they too can be
murdered on the streets by a drug-addicted criminal, if the war never existed in the first place. By leaving
the problem to fester, the odds of that happening would increase manyfold, given the vulnerability
inherent in belonging with the masses. In other words, if I support the war and the loved one gets killed
by it, I’ll feel guilty; if I don’t support it and they’re killed by a drug-crazed criminal in a horrific way, I’ll
feel guilty either way. I’d rather choose the former.

Then, what about when the loved one becomes a victim of those extrajudicial killings we hear about?

I will seek justice, obviously. Who wouldn’t? I heard the loved one was arrested, restrained and escorted
to the precinct. And later you hear they were shot dead. Why? It reeks of foul play. It will cause you to
question the integrity and trustworthiness of our police, and critics have already been doing it.

Let’s talk about those extrajudicial killings in detail now.

Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of extrajudicial killing:

[T]he killing of a person by governmental authorities or individuals without the sanction of any judicial
proceeding or legal process.

Here, it doesn’t mention anything about the police prerogative to use deadly force when warranted. So,
this allows drug war critics to use the definition above to label every death, as “extrajudicial”, absent any
evidence that proves its illegality. To me, there’s a problem here.

In the example I wrote in the first section, the situation in which the police officers were caught in the
middle of a shootout with drug suspects justifies the use of deadly force. The suspects killed can’t be
deemed as victims of arbitrary executions as the circumstances disprove them instantly: that the suspects
violently resisted apprehension by shooting at the team conducting the raid. It’s the prerogative of any
police officer to use deadly force when they deem it necessary. In this case, it was necessary.

Antonio Contreras, professor of political science in De La Salle University, perhaps one of the very few
prominent impartial Duterte supporters elucidates in his column:

However, the problem now exists in cases of deaths where custody is not yet perfected, when the state
agent is still in the process of taking custody of a suspect. Can these be properly labeled as EJK
[extrajudicial killing]? Currently, these cases are already investigated internally motu propio by the state
through its internal affairs mechanisms, to ensure compliance with the international standards, where
states are obliged to ensure that human rights are respected, even of criminals.

I believe that in the interest of pursuing justice, that such should be treated as a possible case of an
EJK, provided that the presumption shifts to the one making the case that such was done in
excess of self-defense. It will be the responsibility of the victim’s kin, human rights advocates, or a
body such as the Commission on Human Rights to prove in relevant proceedings that such was indeed an
EJK. I would like to believe that the presumption of regularity should also be accorded to the
police officer or the agent of the state. Under the principle of due process, and considering that
EJK is a crime, guilt should be declared only upon proof beyond reasonable doubt.
One should be very careful therefore in labeling any death of a suspect who is not yet in custody to be EJK,
for such would amount to prejudice.

It would appear then that “extrajudicial killing” is a misnomer in the case of justified self-defense by
police. This would not only reveal half-truths but cause righteous law enforcement agents to be vilified for
crimes they didn’t and wouldn’t commit. Therefore, before saying an EJK took place, the accuser must
provide substantial evidence that the killing was indeed arbitrary and uncalled for, taking into account the
circumstances of the situation before the fatal shots were fired.

There’s no justifying extrajudicial killings—where a compliant and well-restrained suspect in custody is

summarily executed—ever.

Some fellow supporters deny they exist out of their blind loyalty to Duterte or their refusal to listen to
anti-drug war opinions, but it’s real. Supporting the war on drugs shouldn’t induce anyone to turn a blind
eye to this flaw. They stem from lack of accountability, lenient punishments, and corruption. They really
have to be addressed.

But I disagree with the claim of the media that every single person killed in this war was deprived of due
process and summarily executed. 7,000 dead, 7,000 EJKs. That’s not true as I made it crystal clear above.
You’ve been conditioned to believe and hold them as the absolute truth.

As I have said, the majority of those deaths is lawful. Those killings were done in the line of duty by our
law enforcement agents. Thus, extrajudicial killings only account for the minority of the death
toll. These are the killings, along with collateral damage, you and I must worry about and condemn.

But, wait, didn’t Duterte before that he wanted to be a Hitler to drug addicts and would happily
slaughter three million drug addicts? Surely, you would agree your fucking president is bloodthirsty.

It’s important to distinguish between words and actions. Yes, I won’t deny Duterte said that and I’m
pretty sure he said that out of inner rage, but the question really is: has Duterte followed through with his
promise?

No. The majority of killings, as I have to point out once again, is lawful. That is not a Holocaust. That
atrocity was meticulously planned and deliberately carried out by the Nazis and backed by harsh rhetoric
against the Jews when the NSDAP assumed power. The Nazis even seized their guns so they couldn’t
revolt. If drug suspects won’t resist arrest violently, they won’t die—at least lawfully.

As I said at the outset, there’s no policy here designed to kill every single drug addict. Should one ever
arise, I will immediately withdraw my support for Duterte and the war on drugs and protest against it. But
so far, nothing. Duterte issued an apology to the Jewish community here in Manila after facing backlash
and that controversial statement, in retrospect, merited it. As for his bloodthirstiness, to some extent, yes,
he’s bloodthirsty but I wouldn’t compare him to the likes of Vlad the Impaler.

To keep this section short, I refer you to my answers about what these extrajudicial killings look like and
why allowing the problem to fester does more harm than good.

Jim Coronel's answer to What are the disadvantages of the Duterte administration?

Jim Coronel's answer to What is the negative effects of extra judicial killings on duterte's administration?

Another annoying misconception about the drug war is how some claim that poor people seem to be its
only targets. The war against drugs doesn’t intentionally discriminate on the basis of
economic class. It was, to repeat once more, declared to disrupt the drug trade in which both the
rich and poor are involved. The reason as to why the poor is mostly victimized by it is simply that the
majority of drug users is poor.
It makes sense. Drugs are consumed by them to numb the harsh realities of poverty. I witnessed myself
streetchildren near my home inhaling rubber cement to alleviate their hunger. The problem about drug
use is, although I understand their motivation, how drugs mess with your brain in the long term
and can make you violent and murderous as the perpetrators of vile crimes had become. I have already
pointed this out at the start.

So, why not solve poverty instead? Why is Duterte not focusing on uplifting the poors’ lives instead to
disincentivize drug use?

As much as Duterte wants to do that (and in some ways, he is doing it), being a staunch proponent of
economic liberalization and federalism—two powerful reforms that, when implemented in concert, will
rapidly lift millions out of poverty—obstructionists in government, academia, the Church and
other institutions—the very same people who oppose the war on drugs and say poverty
should be addressed instead— block every reform that benefits the people
economically but threatens their interests.

Here’s a brief explanation.

Constitutional reform is another major reason why Duterte was elected into office and still enjoys support
from his stalwarts despite his screw-ups and flaws. Among the provisions of the Constitution to reform is
to remove the restrictions on foreign equity ownership, the notorious “60/40” scheme: the economic
liberalization I mentioned above. What this does is to incentivize more foreign investors to invest in our
economy. That’s what Deng Xiaoping did when he first invited investors from Hong Kong to invest in
Shenzhen. That’s what Lee Kuan Yew did for Singapore when Malaysia booted her out and was left
vulnerable without a hinterland. That’s what Paul Kagame is doing for Rwanda to make her the
“Singapore of Africa”. Look at them now. And the result for us? As more and more investors set up
businesses here, the more jobs are being generated, jobs that pay at least twice as much as local firms do.
You can already guess by this time what results thereafter.

But as usual, too many people—corporate shills, criminal leaders and oligarchic mouthpieces—obstruct
these reforms to protect their interests. For local businesses, for instance, they think foreign businesses
are a threat to their dominance. Foreign employers offer better benefits. better wages and even better
living conditions, thereby encouraging them to work for the former as against local employers. That’s why
they block them.

Need a more concrete example on how obstructionism pervades our political discourse? Read the article
below to give you a glimpse on how it works.

More reasons to reject Charter change

In the article, the author quotes:

“Any proposed constitution whether providing for a federal-presidential or federal-parliamentary must be

rejected. Even good intentions do not justify the change of the 1987 Constitution. That charter
is not the cause of the country’s problems.”

Let’s rebut it. So, following that logic, any amendment that serves to lift millions of people out of poverty
is a bad thing? Now, don’t just lend credence to the writer just because he’s a lawyer. Lawyers can be
biased too. I don’t purport to be smarter than him, but if you don’t mind my asking, how exactly is lifting
the “60/40” scheme, the result of which is to generate millions of jobs, bad for the people?

But, ironically, in another article, the same author laments:

“It [amendment of the Constitution] is not the remedy for our multifarious problems, such as high prices,
traffic congestion, environmental degradation, high crime rate, housing for the poor, poverty, extra-
judicial killings, graft and corruption, and the Philippines’ reputation as an area of global concern for
mass killing resulting from the government’s drug war.”

So, here, he complains about poverty (primarily caused by the “60/40”) which results to a “high crime
rate” and the drug problem which resulted to the drug war and the infamous extrajudicial killings, but at
the same time advises against a charter change to begin addressing these problems in the long run
instead of relying on palliatives.

He contradicts himself in both articles. It would seem that he advocates for band-aid solutions—which
have been tried and tested but failed— to these problems. Boy, am I tempted to refute every argument in
both articles but that’s outside the scope of this answer. (I’ll leave this link here to help you understand
more about our dire situation and our calls for constitutional reform).

We will never rise like China, South Korea and Singapore—three of our great neighbors impoverished at
the time when we were still prosperous—so long as obstructionists keep twisting facts to suit their agenda
and to preserve the status quo from which they benefit but we don’t.

Okay, so since poverty can’t be alleviated easily and poor people are incentivized to consume drugs,
making them more likely to die in the war, what about the big fish? Why isn’t any one of them being
apprehended or killed?

The big fish—drug lords, drug pushers as well as wealthy drug dependents—will almost always escape
their comeuppance. Endowed with financial means and political connections to ensure their safety and
freedom as the war rages on, they’re almost always bound to slip through the cracks of justice. They just
simply bribe and kill and bribe and kill.

You should also know our justice system is severely flawed. I agree with the critics when they say that the
war was declared in haste and that the government downplayed the corruption in our judiciary and law
enforcement.

But then again, do you wait ten years to overhaul the entire system before you finally act on the problem?
Couched in an analogy, that’s like treating your cancer only when it becomes terminal but you were
diagnosed at the second stage. It’s too late to reverse the damage.

By then, the number of drug addicts would have surely swollen, the drug trade way more entrenched and
crime rates spiked. The war, if it were declared at that point, would be even more violent. We wouldn’t
want that.

What about legalizing drugs instead?

And what? Incentivize many more people to use drugs? Inflate the already large number of drug addicts in
the country? Force the government to spend tens of billions in providing more rehabilitation programs to
accommodate and recuperate the rising number of drug addicts? That just worsens the already-severe
problem. The only legalization I support is that of marijuana for medical purposes, otherwise our anti-
drug laws stay.

The truth is, reader, given our hands are tied, the war on drugs is the only viable solution we could come
up with. Large-scale reforms are out of the picture when many of your leaders are shills for criminals,
interest groups and the oligarchs who will all obstruct them. Remove them from the equation, pass those
reforms and the war loses much of its necessity and as years pass, poverty and unemployment rates
plummet. I would call for a toned-down version of the war in that case.

Despite all the downsides of the war against drugs, I still adamantly support it. It must continue. I must
stress once more that this war is meant to save more lives than to take them.
You leave the drug trade to flourish and the number of dependents to multiply, and you’re
opening a can of worms for the country. You will unleash hell on innocents who are more
vulnerable to crime. You will make powerful drug lords win. You will make drug dens multiply. You will
expose more people to drugs. You will let crime rates increase. That’s much worse than addressing
problem at hand. I know that this sounds like slippery slope ratiocination but please focus on the point
I’m trying to home in. The repercussions for us are severe.

So, you really won’t relinquish your support and you claim that the war on drugs must keep going. It’s
still violent. What do you suggest the government do to tone down the violence?

This is where I remind you of my conditional support. As I have said, the war has many flaws but it
couldn’t simply end because of those. I want it reformed instead.

Let’s now transition to that part.

There’s no doubt that certain human rights are violated in a war urgently declared, but it can’t for the last
time stop it lest we see us all descend into a dangerous future in which children have unfettered access to
drugs and street violence the magnitude of Mexico becomes the norm. I won’t discount that threat.

Instead of ending the war, I advocate for the improvement of how anti-drug operations and programs are
conducted. I have in mind four small-scale but powerful reforms the war on drugs badly needs to lessen
its brutality.

The first reform that needs to be pushed is tougheni

the punishments for law enforcement agents who commit extrajudicial killings, evidence
planting, extortion and other serious crimes. A simple telling off by Chief Albayalde and dismissal
aren’t going to cut it. They’re criminals, plain and simple. It’s murder to shoot a well-restrained,
compliant suspect, let alone a minor. It’s horrible to plant some evidence and arrest people who aren’t
even involved in drugs. It’s vile for a policeman to rape a drug suspect’s daughter. These people deserve to
not only be dismissed from service but to either serve a long, long time in jail or be hanged in the gallows.

The second is the mandatory use of body cameras for law enforcement. Although recent anti-
drug operations have seen the use of body cameras, it’s better that this be set in stone for strict
compliance. In addition, laws shall be passed to provide for draconian punishments for anyone found to
have tampered with it or who deliberately switches it off during their operations. They serve to increase
police accountability which is a crucial quality the war obviously lacks and Duterte, I admit, had
overlooked.

Third is an anti-drug awareness campaign. Fighting drugs isn’t only about using guns. It’s also about
using a way more powerful weapon: education. It should become the policy of the government to
discourage the youth against the effects of drug use and abuse. Not much has been done to integrate this
in our education system. The poor still think it will serve them well to use narcotics to numb the pains of
poverty. The rich still think it’s cool to use them for recreation. The end result? Ruined lives. They fuck
your brain up. Scientific research corroborates this claim.

The fourth and final one is an increase in the budget for drug rehabilitation. Two years ago, I
condemned the government’s cuts on the budget for rehabilitation programs. The war on drugs should
also be humanized to serve and give drug addicts a second chance. True, the drug problem will never
abate when nothing is being done to reform these dependents. If they overlook this, drug addicts will
simply become recidivists, be attracted to the lucrative trade, and have no incentive to abandon a life of
drugs.

What about more systemic reforms?

Large-scale reforms such as judicial reform, a bigger war on corruption, and the liberalization of our
economy are extremely crucial as well. But I ask you, will judicial reform occur when some people in the
government are engaged in criminal activities and such reform would disadvantage them? Will draconian
anti-corruption laws and the establishment of the Philippine version of Singapore’s CPIB fare well to the
same people? Will oligarchs and businesspeople welcome foreign investment when it undermines their
tight grip on our protectionist economy? Of course not. Obstructionism by the massive Opposition will
always occur, obviously so they can protect their interests. They block the solutions they suggest.

In fine, the war on drugs is a necessary evil—a lesser evil employed to combat a bigger evil (crime and the
drug trade) to avert the worst possible evil (violent drug-running gangs, coddled by corrupt leaders and
the police, ruling over the streets).

My support is grounded upon my disdain for crime and drugs, and my knowledge of the dark truths in
preserving the status quo, not my being a “blind” Dutertist. I seriously don’t give a damn who declares it.
It could be Noynoy Aquino, Bongbong Marcos, Leni Robredo—even Grace Poe! Just act on the damn
problem.

So, when will come the time you relinquish your support and denounce the war?

Simple. When the war morphs into an actual Holocaust against all drug addicts, as I mentioned at the
outset. I know for a fact that not all drug addicts are criminals in the sense of being murderers or rapists.
Drug use in itself is a crime according to our laws but not one to merit the slash of the Reaper’s scythe.
Drug addiction is also a mental health issue, so that’s why I support rehabilitative, not punitive justice for
them. A “Holocaust” for drug addicts—one where drug addicts in rehabilitation are instructed by
government forces to line up, led to an empty field and executed by firing squad—goes against everything
I stand for, and I will not support it.

Likewise, Duterte recently admitted that he underestimated the drug problem. This may be interpreted as
an admission to its failure. But I don’t agree that it’s a complete failure. Winning is impossible, I admit,
but I still believe, in terms of its effects on crime rates, the war is successful. The police statistics I shared
above disproves him and his detractors partially. In terms of curbing the importation of drugs which he
refers to as the “failure”, corruption in our Bureau of Customs remains a stumbling block.

To rid our society completely of drugs—a 100% success rate—is a Gordian knot that can never be sliced
through. Not even the tough anti-drug laws and the threat of execution in Singapore could deter some
people from smuggling them in. Drugs will always be around, but we must do something to make sure
that society isn’t overwhelmed by the problems they pose.

As I said above, apathy is more cruel since evil triumphs when the government fails to act on
it. It is we, the masses, who bare its terrible consequences while the rich simply just sequester themselves
in their guarded fortresses and travel around the metro inside their bulletproof vehicles.

All we want is a safe community, one that has been deprived from us owing to years upon years of
government apathy and even complicity. We were left on our own in this dangerous society where drug-
addicted criminals prowl the streets, waiting to pounce on us—the unsuspecting prey. We cannot take it
anymore. Therefore,
The war must continue but must also be reformed.

TL;DR: What facts have I established above?

1. Illegal drugs are potent chemicals that alter brain chemistry. Changes in behavior and
cognitive functions occur and judgment and reality perception is vitiated. In sum, they fuck the
brain up and can induce you to commit crimes. Some of the most horrific crimes that have
shocked the nation were committed by drug-addicted criminals. This gives rise to the necessity
of the war on drugs.
2. My conditional support stems from my being vulnerable to crime, my being constantly
bombarded by news of depraved crimes committed by criminals—most of whom are drug-
crazed—and my being a utilitarian. I don’t think the war is winnable on its own. Because of the
problems besetting it, earning it its notoriety, I want the war reformed and improved, not
stopped.
3. The war on drugs is a war only on the drug trade, its direct agents—drug runners and drug
lords—and indirectly, crime. Innocent people, especially children, aren’t being deliberately
targeted by the government. Ordinary drug addicts aren’t slaughtered for their drug addiction
but for their violent resistance against the police during their raids. The war in itself doesn’t
care if you’re rich or poor. But the latter looks as though they’re targeted by it because there are
more poor drug users than there are rich since drugs numb the pains of destitution. The rich
escape justice because of the wealth and power they yield and by bribing our corrupt justice
system.
4. Collateral damage and extrajudicial killings are among the worst problems affecting the
credibility and image of the war, in addition to corruption, extortion, the planting of evidence
and a free pass for others to anonymously kill their enemies. I condemn all these problems, but
no viable alternative exists for dealing with the drug problem. The war stays but, again, merits
the reforms I enumerated to address those problems.
5. The war on drugs is indeed violent, but that’s only half of the story. Rehabilitation of drug
addicts is also a feature of the war, though rarely spoken about, and has changed thousands of
lives for the better. Not only that, since the war indirectly fights crime, crime rates have
plummeted as a result. It’s part a success, part failure. The war must continue but must also be
reformed.
I hope this answer sufficed to explain and justify my support and served to assess the war fairly and
objectively. Civil comments, especially contrary ones, are very much welcome.

------------------------------------

I commend the President for trying to solve a rampant problem that the past presidents didn’t really
tackle seriously, and for being brave doing so. He even publicly named the politicians who have been
protecting drug operations, and exposed how big the problem is (i.e., with massive drug operations that
involve people from Mexico and China helping each other).

The reality is, any president with good intentions has to start solving the nation’s problems somewhere. In
an ideal world, his approach against drugs may not be the perfect solution, but it is a solution nonetheless.
Anyway, he is against the drug lords and drug pushers, not the drug abusers (Steven de Guzman's answer
to What can you say about the growing number of drug abusers getting killed around the Philippines?)

There is also an important detail not highlighted by the media: Duterte denounces extrajudicial killings of
drug suspects
The nation has a lot of problems and everything cannot be easily solved all at once (What are the
problems facing the Philippines?). The reduction of drug-related activity is just one of the points of his
presidency, and this gets highlighted by the media. However, it doesn’t mean that he is not doing anything
else. He also discussed:

1. decentralization of power in Manila

2. improving relations with our Muslim population
3. reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in the government
4. increasing the transparency in the government budget; improving the productivity of
government processes
5. solving the traffic situation in EDSA
6. legalizing divorce
7. reduction of income taxes (My tax is 32% and I am not even rich!)
8. improving employee conditions (e.g., stopping the abuse of unnecessary contractualization,
banning age-based qualifications)
9. banning online gambling
10. improving relations with China
11. review of the Sabah claim
12. review of the current education system
He has also inspired people to improve. Divisoria and Baclaran, both places I never visited, are cleaner
now.

----------------------------------

As one of those 16 million who voted for Duterte last election, I can honestly say it is terrible but
necessary. I knew these things will be happening and even Duterte warned us of these terrible war to
come if ever he will elected. He did not fool us, betrayed us before and after the election. Even Duterte
himself told the voters during election not to vote for him for it will be bloody.

Mayor condemned by human rights groups says - 'don't vote for me, I kill too many people'

“I do not covet the position. I do not want to be president. I do not want to kill people so do
not elect me as president.” - Duterte

Still we voted for him, 16 million Filipinos (21 million some say because of electoral cheating by other
candidates) had just voted a president to exterminate Filipinos who are engaged with the illegal drug
business if they don’t stop the evil that they’re doing to the Philippines.

I’m telling this little known fact for people outside of the Philippines who are getting BS news and
editorials from their local mainstream media advancing a narrative that seems to portray Duterte having
fooled the Filipinos during the elections with his war on drug. So that you people will understand why
despite all the noises and drum beatings by the oppositions, the Catholic bishops, the Philippines media
and the whole turd of international human rights groups can’t seem to get their messages straight into the
ears and consciences of the Filipino public. Why survey after survey Duterte is still enjoying high trust and
approval ratings despite how evil he was as portrayed the Human Right Watch, UN, CNN, BBC and the
lot. Is that clear now to everybody?

Ah, yes about that bs research done by one ‘decent’ American university claiming Duterte employs
thousands of trolls to hail and praise him in the social media. Perhaps some of Duterte’s supporters do
tend to exhibit trollish behavior on the comments sections in the internet but certainly they are not paid
trolls by Duterte. Broad Support for Duterte Drug War in Philippines, Pew Finds

But who are these Duterte trolls anyway?

We have 2.4 millions OFWs (Overseas Filipinos Workers) working abroad because there’s nothing worth
working in the Philippines for the past 30 year of liberal democracy except selling drugs or become one of
the corrupt government officials. Meanwhile, of the 43.7 million labor force in the Philippines, 60.6
percents are your wage and salary workers and 50% of the employed are full-time workers. These are the
working class that get mugged, robbed, looted, raped and mutilated by drug-crazed criminals that ruled in
their communities. The Security guard’s family slain in San Jose del Monte while he work for a night shift.
These are Duterte’s trolls. The working class that wakes up at 4 am for work and go home at 11 pm, that
used to be the easy prey by criminals high on methamphetamine.

So, when these drug fiends and peddlers cried ‘They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals’ do you think
Duterte’s trolls will loss sleep? Will they stop going to work because the street littered with dead bodies of
pickpocketers, robbers, rapist, gangs, drug addicts? Will they worry because Crime 32% down, but murder
is up 50% ? (murder up for drug lords, drug addicts, petty criminals).

With regards to the high number of death in Duterte’s war on drug and the alleged summary execution, I
can think some reasons behind it:

1. Corrupt policemen and government officials are eliminating criminal groups that they
themselves maintain and protects to clear themselves. Blame it on Duterte’s narco-list and
announcing it publicly.
2. Scalawag cops literally takes Duterte’s shoot to kill order to undermine the drug war
campaign knowing summary killings will surely play into the hands of Duterte’s political
oppositions and will be swallowed by the western media hook, line and sinker.
3. Intensified real police operation against illegal drugs results to higher number of criminal
fatalities as compared to previous administrations lip services ‘war on drugs’ after election.
4. President’s full support to the police force. It used to be that before Duterte the Philippines
police force are scared stiff to go hammer and tongs against organized crimes because of
counter suit from the syndicates and human right groups. According to Duterte, police who get
sued at courts not only lose their salary but at the same time foot the bill for their legal defense
from their own pocket. But now Duterte promise them presidential pardon if they get convicted
unjustly by courts bought by the syndicates.
5. Because of the no-beating-around-the-bush anti-drug campaign and because of Duterte
himself people in the local communities are more encourage in reporting drug personalities
that operates in their townships and villages, knowing that this time when the anti-drug units
comes there will be no corrupt local officials that will protect and intervene for the suspects.
6. Philippines penitentiary facilities are pure hell. Those who got the chance to get out will
surely opt to die resisting the police than go back to those hell hole. Unless you’re some big
time drug lords with the right connections in the government, prison time in the Philippines is
literally Biblical hell.

---------------------------

1. Duterte won not just because of his promise to start a war against the DRUGs and
narcopolitics. He won because a lot of people actually believed that he is different from the
traditional politicians that the people are used to seeing every election. Some voted for him
because of his clean (no corruption) track record, the way he governed in Davao City, and his
simplicity.
The kind of support that he is receiving cannot be simply tagged as fanaticism or people JUST blindly
accepted what he said. It’s not that simple. And if you say that is as simple as that, then I say get to know
the people who supports him. Ask them. He’s got intelligent people for supporters. He has supporters who
are hard headed and opinionated and principled ones. There is no perfect candidate for every voter. And
most of the time, people support someone who aligns to what they like. This can be applied to Duterte
supporters too, I still wonder why people automatically tag Duterte supporters as BLIND.

His war on drugs in the Philippines, I support it. I did not vote for him because of this promise but I voted
for him for a different reason. I voted for him because I know HOW he leads and I know he can actually
lead. I know he is not corrupt. He has immense geopolitical knowledge too. But I know that there are
people out there who voted for him because they were VICTIMS of DRUGS or drug addicts and drug
pushers and they are HAPPY that a President is waging a war against something they have fought all their
lives.

It is not a secret to this country that there are corrupt policemen and rogue cops involve in the drug trade.
And politicians too. That’s why this has been sooo difficult to fight. That’s why there’s a struggle. But If we
will just focus on this fact and stop just because the police force is not free of corrupt men..how will we
end the drug problem? How and when should WE start cleaning this mess that is growing every day?
Should we wait till the judicial process is already polished and okay..I don’t think that would happen in
the next 6 years and every day we wait..the drug problem continues to grow.

Based on the report released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency,

28, 806 drug cases were filed from January to December 2016 alone.

Compare that to the report from the past administration

“2011 - 12,627
2012 - 12,534
2013 - 10,502
2014 - 17,619
2015 - 30,282”

People are filing cases and speaking up and ASKING for Treatment and help. They are doing what they
can to help this war on drugs succeed.

There are more than 1M drug dependents and drug pushers/runners/ who surrendered and the
government is working on giving REHABILITATION for these drug dependents who are willing to be
rehabilitated. The Department of Social Welfare and Development has an Assistant Secretary who will
focus on the rehabilitation of the drug dependents. The Philippine National Police are investigating
SUSPICIOUS police operations and they continue to work despite the SLOOOW judicial process in this
country. Billions of METH were nabbed in EXCLUSIVE subdivisions. Drug factories and billions of
BURIED drugs were found. Some of the drug runners and pushers chose to hide because of fear that if
they surrender, their leader would kill them. There were others who surrendered. There were others who
didn’t surrender peacefully and got killed. There are those who surrendered but were killed by corrupt
policemen.

There are too many sides to this war on drugs but it is yielding results and there are a lot of families
celebrating that this WAR is being fought.

There have been families sharing stories of how their places changed from “law abiding citizens fearing
the street to DRUG addicts fearing the streets”. That is the difference and we cannot dismiss that just
because there are people who got killed.

Drug pushers and drug cartels destroy lives (of other people and their own), families, and future. Some of
the poor drug pushers sell their own appliances, steal money, ROB and kill innocent victims to support
their addiction. Other drug dependents kill and rape because of what drugs has done to their brains. And
we cannot bring back the lives of their victims. THEIR ACTS are barbaric.

We won’t have this WAR on drugs if there is no DRUG problem in this country. WE have a drug problem,
we do not have enough rehab centers and this administration is working on it.