Philippines? president Rodrigo Duterte and his war on drugs

By Mahasweta Muthusubbarayan

Filipinos are not happy with incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte. As the anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which led to the ouster of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, provided them with the perfect opportunity to express their discontent. The 1986 uprising comprised of a series of army-backed, largely-peaceful protests which led to the end of Marcos’ rule after he imposed martial law in the Philippines for 14 years. Towards the end of his rule, Marcos was highly unpopular owing to allegations of human rights abuses, suppression of democracy, election fraud, the state-sanctioned assassination of his political opponent and massive embezzlement and corruption. More than three decades later, President Duterte has been similarly accused of attempts to uproot democracy and state-sanctioned killings in relation to his war against drugs.

The Marcos era

Marcos ran his first successful presidential campaign by claiming that he was a decorated war hero of World War II. The US later clarified that most of his claims were false as per its official records and he had made such claims just to win the favour of the Filipinos. In September 1972, Marcos imposed martial rule in the Philippines to allegedly crackdown on subversive guerrilla activities against the State by communist and Maoist forces. The habeas corpus writ was suspended and his political opponents were jailed for almost a decade. The country’s armed forces worked at his behest and the media was silenced. Even civilians became the target of violence. He continued with an authoritarian style of governance even after the end of martial law.

In 1983, his main political rival, Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated when he returned to Manila to oppose Marcos. Massive anti-government protests were launched after it emerged that senior military officers had had a hand in the assassination. In a political gamble, Marcos called for snap presidential elections in 1986 but it is alleged that he managed to win only through an enormous amount of fraud and coercion. Soon after the election, the People Power Revolution took place and Marcos and his family fled the country. Evidence was later found that during his presidency, his family had stolen billions of dollars from the Filipino public and also took away a huge bounty of cash, jewellery and other assets when they fled to Hawaii. He was also accused of embezzling the money of the poor and redistributing it among the Filipino elite.

Duterte’s ‘war’ on drugs

The hallmark of Duterte’s presidency has been his violent crackdown on both dealers and users of narcotic drugs. While his intention to solve the drug problem in the Philippines might be well-founded, the way in which the campaign has been executed has evoked large-scale condemnation from the UN and the EU and the initiation of a preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court. It has been alleged that more than 4,000 Filipinos have been gunned down by both police officers as well as unidentified assailants since the crackdown began. While the official statement of defence is that the killed people were armed suspects resisting arrest and that crime rates have reduced due to the killings, human rights activists have termed the killings as extra-judicial executions. Apart from human rights groups, the Roman Catholic Church has also expressed disapproval over the killings.

Besides killings carried out by the police forces, there have been numerous unexplained murders of people involved in the narcotics world. In October 2017, following public criticism, Duterte removed police forces from the crackdown operations and tasked the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency with continuing the operations. However, within less than two months, he ordered the police back onto the streets, while claiming an increase in crime rates and a decrease in the effectiveness of the anti-narcotics operations.

The President is also facing allegations of suppression of the press through revocation of licenses of news agencies which criticised his drug campaign, the most controversial one being the revocation of the license of popular website Rappler. He has publicly declared that he wants to slaughter drug peddlers and addicts and also made very misogynistic comments against women, especially those who are communist guerrilla fighters. There are also fears that he will use the massive majority which he commands in the Congress to revise the Philippine constitution which was adopted in 1987 to deter future dictatorial regimes so as to introduce federalism in the country.

Last year, Senator Leila de Lima initiated a Senate inquiry into State-sanctioned killings in the war against drugs. The inquiry was later dropped as the investigating Senate Committee was led by an ally of the President. Since then, Senator Lima has become the target of numerous political investigations carried out by the President’s aides and was arrested last week. Her arrest has been termed as an assault on democracy and the right to dissent, indicating that the President cannot tolerate any opposition to his policies and operations. Similarly, Vice-President Leni Robredo was barred from attending Cabinet meetings after she expressed policy differences with the president.

The Duterte-Marcos connection

President Duterte is widely perceived to be an ally of the Marcos family. In fact, he has publicly declared that he is indebted to the family as they contributed towards funding his election campaign. One of the most controversial acts of President Duterte has been to recommend the burial of Marcos’ remains in the heroes’ cemetery in Manila, stating that he was a decorated war veteran and an influential president. Burial in the heroes’ cemetery is reserved for deceased presidents, national war heroes and popular artists and scientists. While Marcos was indeed a former president, this move was not a favourable one politically, as it was seen as an endorsement of dictatorship and utter disregard for human rights violations, not worthy of emulation by future generations. In fact, President Duterte’s actions since assuming office have not exactly been respectful towards democracy or the Constitution. Similar to Ferdinand Marcos, the incumbent President has been accused of gross crimes against humanity, suppression of dissent, state-sanctioned violence and killings. Hence, the conversion of the commemoration of the anniversary of the 1986 revolution into a symbolic protest against the current President’s authoritarian tendencies.

Attempts to revise the Constitution

There are two stages in amending or revising the Philippine Constitution- the proposal stage and the ratification stage. Back in 2016, Duterte had already set the process of revising the constitution in motion by signing an executive order which set up a Congressional panel to propose specific changes. He wants to shift from a presidential system to federalism. He also wants to transfer some of the powers of the President to the Prime Minister and set up a quasi presidential-parliamentary system. A major change such as the alteration in the style of governance amounts to a revision of the Constitution and not just an amendment. A resolution was later passed convening both Houses of the Congress into a Constituent Assembly, although no timelines have been established for initiation of the ratification stage.

It has been argued by supporters of the revision that a federal form of government will open up and improve the economy of the provinces and will provide them with more political and economic autonomy and keep the minority-Muslim provinces happy. Opponents argue that the constitutional revision process is merely a ruse for Duterte to remain in office indefinitely on the pretext of overseeing the constitutional revision process and its implementation. However, the saving grace for Filipinos is that any constitutional revision will have to be ratified by the public in a plebiscite to become effective, even if ratified by the Congress.

Public perceptions about Duterte

Duterte’s way of ruling his country is not popular in the international arena and has drawn flak from numerous international organizations and human rights watch groups. Duterte has also ordered his police forces to not participate or cooperate in the investigation initiated by the International Criminal Court. He shares a fairly good rapport with US President Donald Trump and there have been allegations that Britain provided him with spy-tech gear and arms to hunt down drug dealers and addicts. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has questioned and criticised Duterte’s way of enforcing his campaign against drugs and the UN and EU have both been extremely vocal in their criticism of the President.

However, on the same day when pro-democracy activists protested against Duterte on the highway in Manila where the People’s Power Revolution took place, a large number of people also stood up for the President. There are many Filipinos who regard Duterte as a harbinger of change for the better, and support his campaign against drugs, believing that he is making the country a safer place. Despite his brash, authoritarian tendencies and hard-hitting style of governance, he still remains one of the most popular Filipino presidents ever. He might be unpopular internationally, but for now, his regime appears unshakeable as he commands the faith and respect of the majority of his countrymen.

Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt