30/05/2026
Why do the poor turn to drugs, and why do we turn to killing them?
The difference between alcoholism and drug addiction is simply the substance. Both alcohol and illegal drugs have caused irreversible damage to every facet of the lives of those embroiled in them. Both have also been used to either justify or explain heinous crimes like murder and r**e. And yet, in the Philippines, between alcoholics and drug addicts, we advocate for the killing of only one of the two.
Every Filipino old enough to vote in the 2028 elections should already know the story of Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘War On Drugs’, better known by locals as ‘Oplan Tokhang’. When the former president took office after a decisive win during the 2016 elections, he promised to completely eradicate illegal drugs and any related crime from the streets of the Philippines, just as he did for Davao City during his 22-year run as its mayor. This promise, as already witnessed by Davaoeños, required nothing short of a bloodshed.
One of the policies that guaranteed Duterte his presidency was this very anti-drug campaign. Many Filipinos believed that when illegal drugs are eradicated from this country, crime rates would also decrease significantly, and so would poverty. This belief runs so deeply that the many reported civilian deaths have been referred to as mere collateral damage, or even the unfortunate but inevitable sacrifice to the drug-free and crime-free Philippines that Duterte envisioned. In 2026, his supporters still believe that the war on drugs achieved what it sought to do. They justified the killings by going as far as using the plight of victims of sexual violence. Facebook posts and comments made by those in favor of the campaign often linked crimes like sexual assault and murder with the use of illegal drugs. Such crimes were also committed by inebriated individuals, and yet they do not face a nationwide call for their killing to teach them a lesson.
Amnesty International, a humanitarian organization that documents human rights violations all over the globe, began covering the Duterte War on Drugs in 2017. In their first report, published in January of that year, they cited up to 7,000 killings, as was also written on the Philippine National Police’s statistics website. Many of these killings were deemed by activists as extrajudicial: the ex*****on of individuals denied their right to a public trial and to be presumed innocent unless they are proven guilty. One-third of these killings were done by the police themselves during formal operations. The rest were by ‘vigilantes’ spurred on by the former president’s own words.
“Forget the laws on human rights,” Duterte said in one of his speeches in Davao City during his election campaign in 2016. “You drug pushers, hold-up men, and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I’d kill you.”
In his six-year tenure as the president of the Philippines, he would make multiple comments and speeches defending the violent nature of his bid against drugs and crime. He would also announce on live television and in interviews with reporters that he would grant uniformed officers impunity, ordering them to ‘shoot-to-kill’ in the name of his campaign.
This deadly war waged by the Duterte administration did not lead to the eradication of the drug problem that the country was admittedly facing. Instead, it led to the killing of a conservative estimate of up to 10,000 individuals, as reported by independent human rights groups. This number includes more than a hundred children, ranging from infants to teenagers. It also includes those made suspect by mere word of the mouth, those that were not granted proper investigation, those that were unlucky enough to be in the proximity of these operations, and most especially, those that were unfortunate enough to be born into poverty.
Life in the slums of the Filipino metros is the perfect environment for the drug trade to thrive. Alcoholism is a cheaper addiction to have, but drugs are quicker, stronger, and more effective for those who are desperate to escape a life of hardship, however temporary.
The drug trade itself is deeply rooted in the poorest settlements in the cities and the outskirts of provinces for another reason. Unlike alcohol, drugs are not only a vice. It also creates a form of employment in places where many are desperate for a livelihood that does not require formal education, training, and red tape, all of which are costly to those who are living day to day with barely anything — no food, no money. For those stuck in poverty, the drug trade is simply another job opportunity. Some people juggle heavy labor, construction work, and circulating drugs on the side for a living. Selling and delivering drugs does not guarantee a life of comfort, but it puts food on the table. And for many of these individuals, this job has become a death sentence, extrajudicial as they may be.
These unlawful sentences were not met with silence. Filipino activists and international organizations began investigating and calling out Duterte as early as 2016, Amnesty International’s reporting being one of many such efforts. In 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) started investigating Duterte for alleged Crimes Against Humanity. These crimes include the murders committed by the Davao Death Squad, known at the time as the DDS, a death squad group that carried out summary ex*****ons during his mayoral period in Davao City, and then the subsequent killings that occurred during his presidency. Four years later, on March 11, 2025, Duterte was surrendered to the ICC to face legal proceedings.
Between then and now, Duterte remains detained in the ICC Detention Centre while the proceedings faced multiple delays as his defense team alleged him to be unfit to stand for trial. In January 2026, the ICC declared him fit enough to face the Pre-Trial Chamber, and a confirmation of charges hearing was held the following month, concluding on February 27, 2026. Whether or not the case will proceed to trial depends on what the Chamber finds as they review evidence on three counts of murder. The decision should be issued by late April 2026. If the case proceeds to trial, the rest of the proceedings may take years. The 2028 National elections, for which his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, plans to run for the presidency, may even be held while the case is ongoing.
At present, crime rates and poverty seem to only be worsening in this country as we face yet another significant economic crisis, while Filipino oligarchs and politicians continue to grow their wealth with the people’s money, as unearthed by the flood control scandals last year. The national elections are looming once more, and certain politicians have made their intent for candidacy known. This election will once again force the nation to reckon with the weight of voting a single person into such a high position of power.
Before future candidates begin their campaigns, before they lay out their platforms to solve the illegal drugs crisis, and especially before we decide on who to lead us next, we must first understand the nature of the drug trade and drug addiction. It is vital that we begin to change how we see drug addiction as a whole. Filipinos like to throw the word ‘adik’ around, whether as a joke or as an insult. But in the Duterte Drug War, thousands of people were killed because they were alleged drug addicts. However, have we as a society ever truly understood how substance addiction works?
Psychologists classify addiction as a brain disorder. It physically alters the way the brain is structured and, therefore, how it works. It mentally impairs the individual, and when not treated, leads to further health problems that may then lead to death. In many parts of the world, this is recognized both by medical communities and their government. Therefore, policies against addiction are built on the recognition that addicts are patients. What addicts require is medical intervention and a proper community that will welcome them back. Drug addicts are sick, and they require treatment.
Except, in the Philippines, government-run centers meant to do just that, have also been reported for using physical violence as part of the rehabilitation process. In 2024, Amnesty International published a report on the issue, writing that these centers use practices that are not based on evidence. Despite offering rehabilitative services, which are a medical service to begin with, these facilities are better equipped for the detention of prisoners. An individual undergoing rehabilitation in these drug detention centers may be immediately forced to go through the symptoms of withdrawal without adequate medical support. They may also be put into isolation or given corporal punishment for violating rules. But these are surrenderees to the drug war, Filipinos who went into this hoping to come out on the other side, ready for a better life. Instead, they are treated like prisoners, criminals who have yet to commit the crime. This is not how we solve the drug crisis at all.
The drug problem is a global problem, and so is the war against it. This is not the kind of problem that can be solved with state-sanctioned violence as endorsed by the groups running the country. Millions of people everywhere will have to be killed for that to work. The key to this fight is better mass education, the recognition of rehabilitation for addicts as a vital medical service, and even better policies in the ageless fight against poverty. We must start from scratch and educate ourselves better about the reality of the drug trade and why people turn to it out of desperation. Or even, why there are so many Filipinos desperate to involve themselves in something so systemically dangerous in the first place.
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Feature by Ayesha Balt
Illustration by anonymous
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