War on drugs and
extrajudicial killings
In 2016, the “war on drugs” started as one of Duterte’s first acts as president. On May 9, 2016, the day of his election victory, he said: “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.”
“According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), 4,948 suspected drug users and dealers died during police operations from July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2018.
But this does not include the thousands of others killed by unidentified gunmen. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), 22,983 such deaths since the ‘war on drugs’ began are classified as ‘homicides under investigation.’
The exact number of fatalities is difficult to ascertain because the government has failed to disclose official documents about the ‘drug war.’ It has issued contradictory statistics and, in the case of these ‘homicides under investigation,’ stopped releasing the figures altogether” (Human Rights’ Watch, n.d.)
This enabled police officers to kill alleged drug users and pushers without going through legal processes. Additionally, Duterte vowed to shield police officers who were carrying out the “drug war” from prosecution. With the exception of some high-profile cases, the killings have not been investigated.
This was extremely controversial because some of the people who were killed were people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In short, many innocent lives were taken away and the police officers who pulled the trigger were not prosecuted.