Laman, Kenneth P.

Dec 9,2019
2BACMA-B SOC170

On the President’s Orders

One of the main platforms of President Rodrigo Duterte back before the he was elected is the
suppression of illegal drugs in the Philippines. He wants to do to the Philippines what he has
done in Davao City back when he is the mayor of it. No one can deny how great President
Duterte made Davao City into when he ruled as mayor. A friend of mine told me that back
when to the days when President Duterte is not the mayor of Davao City yet, it was a place of
crime and killing especially involving drugs. When President Duterte was elected as mayor, he
did a cleansing of the city by means of extra- institutional means. This means is the formation
of the “Davao Death Squad”, which is a vigilante group that works under the direct orders of
President Duterte. But no one can invalidate the transformation that Davao City went through
because of these methods. Davao had a great development and change especially in crime rate
when Duterte ruled over Davao City. But an extra- institutional action means that going over
the law such as extrajudicial killing in which the Davao death squad is well-known of. It’s a
matter of shoot to kill. In this method, there is no acknowledgement of proper trials or arrest.
In February 2016, when Duterte was campaigning for presidency, he stated and I quote
it fully, “If elected president, give me about three to six months, I will get rid of corruption,
drugs and criminality.” This vow of Duterte had a great significance over his win in the 2016
Presidential election. The impacts of those words to the people reflects back over Duterte’s
accomplishments for Davao City. The people thought that Duterte is a good leader and what
he has done for the city, he will able to do so for our country. But just like the logic that not all
good soldiers are good leaders, Duterte’s solution he had done for Davao City may not work
with a large- scale population of the entire Philippines.
We have rules to follow. Laws that are created for the people’s welfare and protection.
Laws that punishes violators legally. We all have rules to follow as our Philippine Constitution
has stated. I do not condone any criminal acts such as drug usage and selling but putting the
laws in one’s hand because of incredible authority is something to be scrutinized. It is true that
suppressing crime is for the welfare of the majority but what about the situation where crime
is solved using crime? President Duterte’s brutal campaign against drug is proven by the
thousands of drug-related deaths throughout the Philippines and his daring words in his
speeches. The police also had a significant number of arrest weeks after President Duterte’s
election. Drug- related deaths in majority are associated with masked gunmen, a vigilante group
that targets drug associated personnel with an absolute shoot to kill objective. Drug- related
deaths are not only done by vigilantes but the police as well. The police are more feared as
their authority makes them more protected from committing any form of extra-institutional
actions. This same goes with the vigilante that terrorizes narco-list people as this might be the
Davao death squad brought into the bigger scale and since its head, Duterte, is the Philippine
President, chances of getting proper justice because of extrajudicial killings is little to none. It
can be considered that these vigilantes are more protected than the police in committing extra-
institutional actions as they maneuver in the dark with the president having their back.
Don’t get me mistaken here. I do stand for every people about the argument I am about
to present. It solely from my own perspective and doesn’t include any other personnel.
 As a democratic country, people enjoy rights and privileges. In our constitution, Article
III or the Bill of Rights consists of the different law created to safeguard the people against any
form of violation from the government and other people. Also, as stated in one of the
constitutional rights of Filipino citizens, due process, is a law that let an accused person of
crime to be heard out before condemnation. This means that no person shall be deprived of his
life, liberty, or property unless due process is observed. Every Filipino people should have a
chance to defend him/herself. Every Filipino people have the right to live, no matter how much
crime one had committed and these rights are protected by the law.
Looking through Duterte’s brutal war against drug. It is important to reflect back to the
justice system of the Philippines. If your poor, don’t expect any justice. That’s how flawed our
justice system is. Whoever has the most money wins. Everything in this world seems to be
buyable even justice. Duterte’s brutal war is also primarily directed toward the poor and the
heads of the drug problem the country is facing. These heads are the drug lords and moles in
the government that works for them. I imply that extrajudicial killing as means of suppressing
drug related problems must be directed to its roots and not to its branches. But I personally do
not condone any act of killing. Police are also a great tool by the president to mobilize its war
on drugs. In a particular scene in the film where several police discuss about capturing a certain
drug personnel by framing up an implanted gun shows how the authority of police can be used
to impose overboard law enforcement.
Duterte’s war on drugs is a hot debate topic on human rights movements locally and
internationally. It questions the very essence of extra-judicial killings. It even captivated the
attention of the United Nations. It questions why a democratic country which do not even allow
death penalty are on a killing rampage of criminals without proper trial. Personally, what I
think that President Duterte holds stand is that he can do what he has done for Davao. He wants
to make Philippines great even if it means certain doom for him. For him, taking matters in his
own hands is where change can only be attained as for a long time the government governed,
crime rates either maintains or climbs up its numbers. It is better to kill people who do not
contribute to the welfare of the society.
But again, the ethical question is that “Is extrajudicial killing justifiable?” There are
varying perspective and arguments that will sprout out of this question. None of them will to
be generally accepted nor generally rejected as we all have our own biases. If the basis is our
law, extrajudicial killing is unacceptable and a crime no matter what the benefits and situation
is. But President Duterte’s ethical standards is somewhat of close to the principles of
utilitarianism. To act wrongly for the betterment of the majority. It is better to kill the drug
related criminals than to imprison them as they will only go back to their old ways after
freedom. But in this democratic country where almost 90% are Christians, killing is never
acceptable even for the benefit of the many. Strong human rights movements are also lobbying
extrajudicial killings to the government. Lots of protest are also happening as movement
against the bloody war on drugs.
From the film, we can see how power, wealth, and authority can manipulate the society.
It will always the mass or the common people especially the poor ones that will greatly suffer
from any acts of oppression and abuse. As I end this paper, we take a look into a question that
will summarize the president’s war on drugs and that one may differ with answers to another.
It is a matter of whose principles is stronger. “Which one is a crime? Letting drug-related
criminals multiply or kill without trial?” People have different philosophies in life and how
strong one believes in it will define his/her stand in such ethical issue of extrajudicial killing.