Opinion | The other side of Duterte’s war on drugs: rehabilitation, rescue and rooting out corruption

While the death toll in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign has been the focus of international attention, the government’s massive rehabilitation effort and anti-corruption measures tend to be ignored

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Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents and police secure part of a street as they search a house looking for a drug dealer during a raid in Maharlika village, south of Manila, on February 28, 2018. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:01pm, 22 Feb 2019Updated: 6:25pm, 22 Feb 2019

Overemphasis on a single aspect of the Philippines’ war on drugs – the death toll – clouds international perceptions of President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature campaign. Less publicised by the media is the health dimension of the campaign. Five months after commencing the crackdown, the government opened the country’s biggest drug rehabilitation facility. By the end of 2018, three more regional rehabilitation centres had been built, with plans to construct more. Developing and running effective rehabilitation programmes also present opportunities to work with local and international partners.

Duterte framed his drug war as an existential challenge – a fight to preserve peace and order and a crusade to save the country’s youth. “If you destroy the youth of my land, I will kill you” has been a recurring threat in his pronouncements on the subject. Since his time as mayor of Davao, Duterte’s campaign against crime and the illegal drug trade has been unrelenting, catapulting him to national prominence.

However, for all the hype that it has attracted, Duterte’s attitude to drugs is no regional exception. Many of the country’s neighbours, including China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, have waged crackdowns to eradicate drugs and impose the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Duterte’s concerns are not unfounded. With porous maritime borders, the presence of non-state armed groups, collusion of corrupt officials and a climate conducive to the cultivation of opium, the country runs the risk of sliding into a narco-state. The drug trade sustains the proliferation of rebel, terrorist and criminal outfits. The Philippines is also located near the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet and where a substantial global supply of opium is sourced.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (centre) looks on as the new chief of the Philippine National Police Director-General Oscar Albayalde (right) and outgoing chief General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa salute each other at a ceremony on April 19, 2018, at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Philippines. Duterte, in his address, said he would not stop his war on drugs until his last day in office. Photo: AP

Rights groups have long contested official drug war death figures, accusing the police of engaging in extrajudicial killings, of condoning vigilante-style attacks and deliberately targeting poor, small-time drug peddlers. Concerns about collateral damage and the slow progress of cases against police officers suspected of abuses have also been raised.

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