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The Perpetrators
This section will address the main players of extrajudicial killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippine based on the book of “Some People Need Killing” by Patricia Evangelista.
Edited by Saung Yanant Pyae Kyaw, Jacob Oster, and Paul Cosme
Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo Duterte was the sitting president of the Philippines from June 30th 2016 - June 30th 2022 serving 6 years in the presidential palace. Before his term as president he served 10 years as mayor for Davao City in the south of the Philippines. He was 71 years old in 2016 when he became president and was 49 when he became mayor of Davao City (Ray, 2019). To this day Duterte is still pursuing politics as he registered to run as mayor for Davao City (Associated Press, 2024) What was his campaign? His campaign was very clear, which aimed to “Get rid of drugs” in the Philippines. This led to him leading groups of police officers on a shoot-to-kill order for anyone who was accused of being a drug user or pusher. He also used this in his own city of Davao where he was mayor for 10 years where he coordinated large-scale, extrajudicial violence to solve crime. He encouraged residents of the Philippines to “Call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun, you have my support,” Duterte told the police and the militia groups that “if a suspect resists arrest, you can kill him” He also told the people “Only if your life is in danger, and there is resistance and the suspect is armed with a gun or knife, shoot. I'll give you a medal.”(Francisco, 2016) All of the things he has said and done really just show that he is a supporter of killing the residents of his own country. He has openly voiced his support towards brutality and encouraged every-day citizens to turn on their neighbors or kill them themselves. All of his policies and commands lead to the deaths of over 12,000 people in the Philippines. At least 2,555 of the deaths were due to the Philippine National Police that Duterte gave a shoot-to-kill order. Out of the deaths most of them were people who were living in urban settings, generally very poor and not cared for by the government. (Human Rights Watch, 2019) How did he win his presidency? He won his presidency due to his strong stance on public safety and fighting crime. He also had gained popularity in the Philippines as he was Mayor of Davao City for 10 years and was known for fighting crime/ trying to solve the drug problems in his own city. Before his presidency he promised “If I make it to the presidential palace I will do what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out because I'll kill you.” (Bloodied democracy: Duterte and the death of liberal reformism in the Philippines - Mark R. Thompson, 2016) This was what he lived by. He had a goal, that once he became president, he would kill everyone who was involved in the drug trade. Before his Presidency the Philippines was in a time of political stability and high economic growth under the presidency of Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino, III who kept the Philippines generally stable. When Duterte started to campaign, the Filipinos found that he was alluring to them as he had a head strong, stuck to his guns, and a powerful approach to how he was going to run The Philippines. He won the election by gaining 39% of the popular vote, or 16,601,997 votes, beating Mar Roxas by 6,623,882 votes, Grace Poe by 7,501,006, and Jejomar Binay by 11,185,857 votes. He ran under the PDP-Laban party or the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan party with Alan Peter Cayetano as his running mate. (Gutierrez & Ap, 2016)
Duterte's Troll Army
The use of online propaganda that contributed to Duterte’s time in office. The ultimate goal was to influence the 2022 Philippines elections in his favor. Duterte admits that he paid for his support on social media during his campaign, spending 10 million pesos on this alone, but during his presidency he didn’t. As a result of this study of how much he spent (from Oxford University), Duterte calls the institution, “a school for stupid people.” The trolls would defend Duterte’s name against the people who would have negative posts or opinions about him. Using bots and fake accounts, they would create a mass spread of the same fake message to create an alternate reality to believe in. To show his gratitude, Duterte actually appointed one of his strongest defenders, Mocha Uson, as his assistant secretary for the presidential communications operations office. He also gave pro-Duterte bloggers other exclusive perks that gave them major publicity, like the inside scoop of his foreign travels.
Ronald Dela Rosa
Ronald Dela Rosa, after his work with then-president Duterte, joined the executive branch for around three decades before heading into the senate in 2019, where he has been until this day. He gathered around 19 million votes, which won him the seat. Some of the bills he has passed or tried to pass show his dislike of drugs and the people using them. He filed a bill named SBN-198, which is known by another name, the “Death Penalty for Large-Scale Illegal Drugs Trafficking.” He also passed other laws which condemned drugs and strengthened the dislike of them for the general public. Background- Ronald Dela Rosa was born on January 21, 1962, and grew up in a very poor family. After working numerous jobs throughout the years, he went to Mindanao State University (MSU) to study for a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration. In 1982, he left MSU to join the Philippine Military Academy, later graduating in 1986. He then earned a Master of Public Administration degree in 1998 and a Ph.D. in development administration in 2006 from the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City. He then worked his way up the ladder, becoming Chief of the Philippine National Police. War on Drugs- Between July 2016 and April 2018, Dela Rosa worked as the chief of the Philippine National Police. He worked closely with Duterte, passing many laws that cracked down on the people who made and passed drugs around but also on the people who “cultivated them,” meaning those who used them. He is still trying to pass laws and wants to bring back the death penalty because he sees drugs and those who use them as a problem that could affect working-class people and their families. His laws during the time of Duterte affected those who were on drugs, were previously on drugs, and sometimes those who had no connection. Some accounts pushed for around 27,000 deaths, but as time passed, the numbers kept rising. Many people were arrested without proper proof due to harsh laws passed by Rosa and Duterte, sometimes executed on the spot, too. According to human rights organizations and some media outlets, drugs and weapons were ordered to be placed around the premises to cover up executions. Many of these actions were done by police, gangs, and high-ranking officials. Dela Rosa called these actions as defending the nation and called the anti-drug campaign, which killed so many, a major success. The United States has condemned these actions and might try to convict him if they can get proof. Dela Rosa even has a nickname, “Bato,” meaning stone, in Filipino, and he even has Bato in his Facebook name. This name came from the way he dealt with criminals, being like a stone when it came to decisions, always following what he thinks is correct, and no one could convince him otherwise. Death Squads- Death squads are groups of people, usually made of police, who go around and assassinate suspected drug dealers. Former president Duterte identified "commanders" of the death squad, which included former national police chief Ronaldo dela Rosa and later even said that Dela Rosa oversaw these death squads. Later Duterte said that this should be taken as a joke and not self-incriminating evidence. Project- Double Barrel is one of the major projects Ronald Dela Rosa and Duterte worked on. This project included upper and lower barrels. The project should adhere to PNP rules when conducting an investigation and lead investigative units in all cases of armed conflict. There is also the RPHRDD, which should conduct investigations against PNPs and personnel involved in the use or selling of drugs. There are also rules against police who fail to report at a given time, meaning if something goes wrong, these commanders will be charged with neglect. There are also specific guidelines when dealing with armed conflicts. The aftermath of these conflicts must be reported and managed with increasing detail. Pictures and reports, personal investigations, if anyone is hurt, medical attention, and if anyone is suspected to be involved, immediate arrest. The problem with this program is that there is a lot of corruption in the police force, and with the complex dealings with criminals, many innocent people become intertwined with these crimes, resulting in the death of innocents with the forgery of evidence. At the time of this article, the war on drugs targeted mainly urban slum dwellers and resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 (many more today) men, women, and children by police and police-backed vigilantes. When lawmakers and others tried to look into these deaths, he called it “legal harassment” and said it “dampens the morale” of police officers in the Philippines. According to Dela Rosa, there were around 4,000 deaths, and those people fought back. Dela Rosa boasted at one point about his anti-drug efforts and welcomed “the new leadership that will infuse new blood into the campaign (Carlos H. Conde, 2018).” Today and according to news outlets, the International Criminal Court has begun a preliminary examination into the killings and his “war on drugs,” and there is growing momentum inside the United Nations for a separate UN inquiry; maybe at some point, Dela Rosa and others involved in these killings will be held accountable. An Embarrassing End- This “war on drugs” subsidy ended (continued later) after the death of a South Korean businessman by two police. Two police kidnapped a rich businessman, demanding money from his wife and later killing him. With significant pressure from many, Dela Rosa and Duterte spoke on this matter, calling it embarrassing and calling for the death of the cops. Dela Rosa said he would “melt in shame if I could” (Evangelista, 2023, pg. 229), putting the spotlight on himself rather than the tragedy that happened. Dela Rosa also called for a cleansing of the police, but all this happened only after significant pressure from the media and the Korean government.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Domingo
Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Domingo served as a key figure during President Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’ in the Philippines. Known for his role as a police commander, Domingo (Badge No. 0-08627) oversaw operations that led to numerous civilian murders throughout the campaign. Recently promoted to Police Chief of Muntinlupa City within the Philippine National Police (PNP), Domingo has continued his career within the force. A graduate of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, with a degree in Radio Broadcasting, and master degree in Public Safety Administration from the Philippine Public Safety College (Hicap, J. 2024). His role and actions have been central to the narrative explored in Some People Need Killing. Domingo’s Role: Navigating the Ambiguities of the Drug War Robert C. Domingo, the commander of the Police Station 6, also known as PS 6, from the district of Santa Ana with a population of this area roughly 195,000 was established by Franciscan priests in the sixteenth century in the name of Saint Anne in the city of Manila, Philippines (Chapter nine,Evangelista, P. 2023). There are fourteen police stations and each police station referred to as PS 1 to PS 14 which has its own commander, who supervises not only the main station but the precincts scattered across their designated area of operation in Manila city. Domingo is significant as a staunch supporter of President Duterte’s policies and a key enforcer of the drug war in the local district. He is also proud of his profession and supportive of President Duterte’s policies - he mentioned that “they were the golden days of the Philippines Police” ( Evangelista, P. p-200. 2023). He embraces the tough-on-crime approach and sees the police as the primary agents of order and justice. Domingo was a highlight of a man who thrives on power and control. Specifically, he let roughly 800 residents gather at the court, and let them give names on a ballot box which is the beginning of the death of “Buwaya” in his district . Domingo presents the killing as a justified consequence of “Buwaya” resistance during a buy-bust operation. However, witness accounts dispute the official narrative, alleging that “Buwaya”, originally Ryan Eder, was unarmed and executed despite surrendering. This case highlights the contested nature of police killings and the prevalence of the “nanlaban” which is known as the narrative of “fought back” used to justify the use of deadly force. Additionally, Domingo’s position was significant to highlight the collaboration between the PNP and vigilante groups, effectively outsourcing violence and extrajudicial killings. The case of the confederate Sentinels Group (CSG) Tondo Chapter 2 states that Domingo provided the group with target lists and financial rewards for each successful killing. They allege that police under Domingo’s command collaborated with the vigilantes, ensuring operational coordination and avoiding “friendly fire”. Furthermore, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) investigated that Domingo had a secret detention facility inside PS-1, which is behind the office of his Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU). The place housed individuals detained without charges or legal representation for as long as eight days by the systemic abuses of power within the police force and the erosion of due process during the drug war. Reflecting on the character of Domingo facing accusations and investigations, yet still expressing confidence in his actions and seeking reassurance from the author. He represents the ambiguous and morally complex nature of the drug war with the potential consequences of his unchecked authority and the long-term impact of his “zero-tolerance” approach. In 2020, however, the complaints of four police officers including Domingo were dismissed from the investigation of “Drug war”.
Government Position | Department | Year |
|---|---|---|
Chief of Police | Muntinlupa City Police Station | May, 2024 |
Former Chief | District Investigation and Detective Management Division (DIDMD) – NCRPO Eastern Police District | N/A |
Former Officer-in-charge | Manila Police District’s DIDMD | N/A |
Former Station Commander | Manila Police District | N/A |
Former Chief | Criminal Investigation and Detection
Group-Regional Field Unit in the National Capital Region (CIDG-RFU NCR) | N/A |
Commander of PS- 6, | PS-6, the district of Santa Ana | 2016 |
Spokesperson | The National Capital Region Police Office | 2013 |
Degree | Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) | 1999 |
Vigilante Groups in Duterte’s War on Drugs
Duterte’s rise to power was accompanied by his strong rhetoric on crime control, particularly targeting the country’s drug issues. As early as his days as mayor of Davao City, Duterte was associated with a controversial form of crime control that allegedly included support for vigilante operations. The Davao Death Squad (DDS) is perhaps the most notorious of these early vigilante organizations. As Evangelista (2023) highlights, Duterte’s “tough-on-crime” model in Davao set a blueprint that was later scaled up across the country once he assumed the presidency. In January 2017, Amnesty International further released a scathing report detailing that drug-related deaths were the result of police “hiring paid killers” (Amnesty International, 2017, p. 33).
“Am I the death squad? True. That is true.”
- Rodrigo Duterte
Key Players
Among the various vigilante entities that emerged during this period, some groups garnered national attention, while others remained in the shadows. Major groups include:
Davao Death Squad (DDS): Originally linked to Duterte’s governance in Davao, the DDS is reputed for its extrajudicial approach to crime-fighting. As president, Duterte allegedly adopted similar measures at a national level, indirectly fostering the proliferation of other vigilante factions.
Confederate Sentinels Group (CSG): CSG is a national volunteer organization originally created under the auspices of “social welfare and development”. Accredited by the Philippine National Police (PNP) as a “force multiplier,” CSG's role shifted in certain regions where its local chapters became active participants in Duterte’s drug war. Some CSG chapters, notably the Tondo (Manila) Chapter 2, faced allegations of extrajudicial killings, operating with alleged knowledge and collaboration from PNP officials (Evangelista, 2018; Evangelista, 2023, pp. 228-255).
Methods of Operation
The methods of these vigilante groups were notably brutal, often executed by unidentified assailants and left in public spaces with cardboard signs labeling them as drug pushers or criminals (Evangelista, 2023, pp. 129-135). Targets were typically identified through Police influence and “drug lists” which circulated from local government officials (Amnesty International, 2017, p. 7; Evangelista, 2023). Vigilante groups often conducted killings by arriving on motorcycles in pairs, a tactic known as “riding-in-tandem.” This method reflects organized and systematic targeting of alleged drug offenders. In some cases, police themselves disguised as vigilantes, carrying out the murders to obscure their direct involvement (Amnesty International, 2017, pp. 34-39). Overall, practice fostered a climate of fear and desensitized the public to violence.
Evangelista (2023) also documents that vigilante groups often employed assassination, forced disappearances, and other tactics that targeted individuals with no formal process of trial or evidence. The killings frequently involved minimal police intervention, further fueling speculation that law enforcement was complicit or passive enablers of these actions. “They were the killing arm of the police” says one of Evangelista’s community volunteer interviewees (Evangelista, 2023, p. 237). The factor of anonymity among vigilante groups made accountability and justice rare, emboldening further acts of violence.
Rise of CSG, Chapter 2 (Tondo)
Map of Tondo, Manila
“I’m not really a bad guy,” said Simon (CSG Chapter 2 killer). “I’m not all bad. Some people need killing” (Evangelista, 2023, p. 240).
Evangelista and Rappler detail the brutal murders of Tondo civilians through interviews with assassins-for-hire in the CSG’s Chapter 2. Under the alias of Commander Manning, Ricardo Villamonte, the leader of Chapter 2, would work directly with Police Commander Robert Domingo to orchestrate the killings.
CSG Chapter 2 had an estimated twenty to forty members, mostly average citizens like garbage truck operators, security guards, and construction workers. Sources told Rappler it was the police who actively recruited members of CSG Tondo Chapter 2 (Evangelista, 2018). “The names of police-selected targets were announced at the CSG Chapter 2 outpost. The photos were stuck to the wall. The targets included meth users, drug runners, thieves, and the occasional philandering husband” (Evangelista, 2023, p. 240). Simon, one of Evangelista’s interviewees, estimated the gang’s death count at roughly twenty over a seven-month period (Evangelista, 2023, p. 240). Another interviewee, Angel, disclosed that Commander Manning set the bounty for each dead target at amounts that ranged from ₱30,000-₱100,000, about $500-1500 USD. This amount was split between the members of the kill team, with some earning just ₱8000 per target, or $130 USD (Evangelista, 2023, p. 236). This was the value of a human life.
In a particularly gruesome murder, Charlie Saladaga, a 16-year-old resident of the neighborhood, was shot in the face and stuffed into a sack in February, 2017. Charlie’s murder, according to the Rappler investigation, was a side job for CSG members. Despite national attention, including a CNN press conference after the killing, the police never arrested all the killers (Evangelista, 2023, p. 234).
Conclusion
The vigilante groups that surfaced and gained momentum during Duterte’s war on drugs are a testament to the complexities of crime control measures when state-sanctioned violence blurs the boundaries of law and justice. As Evangelista’s analysis reveals, these vigilante actions were not isolated; they were bolstered by systemic failures within the Philippine police and judiciary, and they functioned with the blessing of high-level government authorities. The legacy of Duterte’s war on drugs calls for serious reflection and reform. Evangelista’s work urges us to recognize the dangers of unchecked state power, especially when civilian groups are enlisted to act on behalf of the law.
Figure 1: This profile photo of Ricardo Villamonte, known as Commander Manning, is taken from his public Facebook page (Evangelista, 2018)
Figure 2: A screengrab from CNN Philippines shows a policeman holding up the crime scene photoshoot on the discovery of Charlie Saladaga’s body (Evangelista, 2018)
The Davao Death Squad
The Davao Death squad, commonly known as the DDS, is a vigilante group that began in Davao City, Philippines. The members of this group included people such as retired police officers and rebel returnees. The members of DDS are classified into two major groups: The older members who were formerly serving the country either in the military or the police force and the young boys who were often criminals and chose to join the killings to not be the one to get killed. It was a matter of kill with or be killed. The Davao Death Squad performed and carried out extrajudicial and summary killings all throughout the city of Davao. They began by targeting and eventually killing criminals, such as drug-users, dealers, snatchers, hold uppers, and more. A list of names was created which would eventually be people they targeted and killed. They eventually progressed into killing political and personal enemies. Rodrigo Duterte ordered these killings as confessed by multiple members of the Davao Death Squad that stepped out in an interview with Patricia Evangelista. However, Duterte would quickly deny these accusations made towards him and paid no attention to the violence carried out by the vigilante group. Duterte wasn’t the only person who would order these killings. Cops would often, if not most of the time, order them to kill targets. Members of the DDS were happy to oblige knowing that if the orders came from their own police officers, that the killings were the right thing to do. Every death squad cop carried 2 firearms: one to kill and another for evidence. The evidence to play out that it was a firefight rather than an attack. Investigations would be held after the kills. However, those investigations would be all for show since the investigators were aware of the presence of DDS and what they do.
Staff Sgt. Allan Formilleza
Sgt. Allan Formilleza is a central figure in the controversial drug-related operations in Quezon City, particularly during the incident on August 21, 2016. As a police staff sergeant, his actions during the encounter, where four suspects were killed, have been scrutinized for their legality and adherence to police protocols. Official accounts depict him as a key member in a shootout that allegedly involved armed suspects who resisted arrest. However, the subsequent court proceedings revealed inconsistencies in police narratives, raising questions about the truth behind the events (Evangelista, 2023). Testimonies highlighted Formilleza's role in the shootings and the chaotic aftermath, where he reportedly ordered the cover-up of the incident. His belief that addicts were inherently violent, as expressed in interviews, reflects a troubling mindset that justifies lethal force. Formilleza's actions symbolize the tensions between law enforcement duties and the ethical implications of the war on drugs.
References
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