One year on: Winners and losers of the Philippines' drugs war

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Launched a year ago, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has resulted in thousands of deaths, and disputes arose.

Since Duterte took power on June 30 last year, vowing to halt the drug abuse and lawlessness he saw as "symptoms of virulent social disease," crime has dropped, thousands of drug dealers are behind bars, a million users have registered for treatment, and future generations of Filipinos are being protected from the scourge of drugs, government officials said.

However, critics say police have summarily executed drug suspects with impunity, terrorizing poorer communities and exacerbating the very lawlessness they were meant to tackle.

The number of crimes committed in the first nine months of Duterte's rule has dropped by 30 percent, according to police statistics.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech prior to his departure for Cambodia at Manila international airport, May 10, 2017. /VCG Photo

Albayalde, the capital's police chief, said people, particularly in Manila, felt safer now, especially due to a crackdown on drug users who he said commit most of the crime.

In the first 11 months of Duterte's rule, police say 3,155 suspects were shot dead in anti-drug operations. Critics maintain that many of them were summarily executed.

Police say they have investigated a further 2,000 drug-related killings, and have yet to identify a motive in at least another 7,000 murders and homicides.

Funeral parlor workers carry the body of drug convict Peter Co, who was killed in a stabbing incident inside the national penitentiary in suburban Manila's Muntinlupa City, Sept. 28, 2016. /VCG Photo

The drug war's exact death toll is hotly disputed, with critics saying the toll is far above the 5,000 that police have identified as either drug-related killings, or suspects shot dead during police operations.

Most victims are small-time users and dealers, while the masterminds behind the lucrative drug trade are largely unknown and at large, say critics of Duterte's methods.

Surveys by Social Weather Stations (SWS), a leading Manila pollster, reveal a public broadly supportive of Duterte's anti-drug campaign, but troubled by its methods and dubious about its effectiveness.

A child plays with a toy gun as police officers conduct a house-to-house campaign on illegal drugs at a community in Manila, Oct. 6, 2016. /VCG Photo

SWS surveys in each of the first three quarters of Duterte's rule showed a "very high satisfaction" with the anti-drug campaign, said Leo Laroza, a senior SWS researcher.

Respondents also reported a 6.3 percent rise in street robberies and break-ins. More than half of those polled said they were afraid to venture out at night, a proportion that had barely changed since the drug war began, said Laroza.

Police operations were halted for much of February after it emerged that anti-drug police abducted and killed a South Korean businessman last year.

In October, the Hague-based International Criminal Court said it could investigate the killings if they were "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population."

An activist holds a banner during a rally to urge the Philippines to stop the "War on Drugs" in front of the Philippines' embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, April 25, 2017. /VCG Photo

The Philippine Commission on Human Rights is investigating 680 drug-war killings.

"In this country the basic problem is impunity," Chito Gascon, the commission's chairman, said. "No one is ever held to account for the worst violations. Ever."

Police chief Albayalde said that the force's Internal Affairs Service (IAS) investigates all allegations of abuse by his officers. "We do not tolerate senseless killings," he said. "We do not just kill anybody."

Police investigate a crime scene in Manila, Jan. 5, 2017. /VCG Photo

IAS told Reuters it had investigated 1,912 drug-related cases and recommended 159 officers for dismissal due to misconduct during anti-drug operations, although it didn't know whether any had yet been dismissed.

Earlier this month, 19 police officers charged with murdering two drug suspects in their jail cell in November were released on bail and now face trial for the lesser crime of homicide.

Duterte, who has repeatedly urged police to kill drug suspects, had already vowed to pardon the officers if they were convicted.

"You have a head of state who says, 'Kill, kill, kill,' a head of state who says, 'I've got your back,'" said CHR's Gascon. "That has a ripple effect."

(Source: Reuters)

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