The Resistance

Before Duterte's' began his national War on Drugs, Rappler began covering Duterte when he was Mayor of Davao City-highlighting his controversial policies on drugs and crime. Rappler's reporters were critical of Duterte and his ties with death squads. During the War on Drugs, Rappler, led by Maria Ressa, became one of the main voices in exposing human rights violations. Ressa faced numerous counts of gendered online harassment, including online threats of rape and murder, hashtag campaigns (UNESCO, 2017). Rappler and Ressa were also charged with cyber libel and tax evasion but acquitted of most of the charges (NPR, 2023).

Duterte was known for having harsh drug policies in Davao City while he was mayor. The United Nations was not fully aware of the level of violence going on in Davao City, from 1988 onward. In 2017, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur of the UN at the time, warned that the Philippines' War on Drugs violated international law and human rights standards. In 2019, the UN Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental body with the United Nations, voted to launch an investigation into human rights abuses in the Philippines under Duterte's War on Drugs (NPR, 2019). Duterte’s government responded by criticizing the UNHRC, with Duterte publicly rejecting the investigation and accusing the Council of bias. Despite this, the international pressure and scrutiny helped keep the issue of extrajudicial killings on the global stage.

As mayor, Duterte frequently criticized the CHR for protecting criminals and undermining his “tough on crime” policies. However, the CHR still voiced its concerns. Under the leadership of Jose Luis Martin Gascon, the CHR documented the rise of extrajudicial killings and the systematic abuse of power by the police during anti-drug operations. The CHR demanded an independent investigation into the killings, calling on the government to address the human rights violations and hold perpetrators accountable

Rodrigo Duerte took his role as President of the Philippines  in 2016. Ever since then, he began taking actions aimed towards decreasing drug activity in the Philippines and taking out drug users and dealers. Duterte is famously known for his thinking; “Some people just need killing”. He aimed to take out as many people as he could because his logic was that, if he took out every last drug lord, the drug epidemic including deaths, violence, and crazed people in the Philippines would stop and in return, the Philippines would be a safer nation. The main focus in the critique of Durtertes' acts was if the killings and the way people were killed were humanly right or justifiable. Families of the victims and civilians were also concerned about the legitimacy of the killings and to what extent the killings were staged in a certain way to make it seem justified. Human rights organizations argue that these practices violate fundamental rights and due process. Members of the Davao Death Squad who carried out the random killings in Davao City spoke out on how the Mayor would hand them money to invade homes- they were notified to take out whatever targets were on the list. Though Duerterte is not President anymore, his administration is fighting to protect its approach, rationalizing it as necessary for national safety. International rights groups remain divided on how to respond to the ongoing human rights concerns and the “War on Drugs”. 

This website was created by the Third World Studies department at the University of the Philippines -Diliman. Dahas means ‘violence’ in Filipino and this evidence-based count of reported drug-related killings in the country especially covers the time period of 2016-2018. It was a part of a bigger project between UP and Ghent University and collects information so that future generations will have evidence-based facts to use in public debates (which isn’t possible for those who are currently debating Marcos Sr.’s offenses as the records from his time in power were not kept as meticulously). 

The website is continuing to collect information, including under the current administration of Marcos Jr.

(Armed Conflict Location and Event Data) is an organization that categorizes and collects data, analyzes it, and creates maps showing where armed conflict is taking place. It has a specific page focused on Duterte's War: Drug-Related Violence in the Philippines.

In 2018, The University of the Philippines-Diliman, the Ateneo School of Government at the Ateneo de Manila University, the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and De La Salle Philippines formed the Drug Archive Philippines with the goal to analyze and collect documents to do more critical research regarding the the antidrug campaign's effectiveness. The Drug Archive Philippines did a data-driven examination of the Philippine AntiDrug campaign, launched in July 2016, by then newly elected President of the Philippines- Rodrigo Duterte, who swore to end the illegal drug trade and use. The findings were that the Police claimed they killed over 4,000 drug suspects. Despite the reports that, as of May 2018, over 22,000 deaths were under investigation- unsolved killings linked to the anti-drug campaign. Even though the Philippine government claims people feel safer, the consequences and impact of the anti-drug campaign are still obscured by claims of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses.

Journalists, especially photographers, were on the frontlines documenting a brutal and controversial war on drugs that claimed thousands of lives. They documented the violence and deaths by taking photos of the mutilated victims. Many put their lives on the line because of threats and targeted attacks. Their main focus was to expose the government and police system that allowed these killings to happen, and even gave killing orders. The images captured by photographers working in the Philippines appeared in major international publications, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Time, and BBC News, among others. These photographs have been crucial in the fight for justice, providing a visual record of events that might otherwise have gone unnoticed or been downplayed in official accounts.

​Mostly mentioned in Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista, the Nightcrawlers of Manila included Raffy Lerma, Patricia Evangelista, Vincent Go, and Eloisa Lopez. They mainly worked at night because the killings usually happened at night. By doing this, they were able to get fresh photos and information. 

On her first night of the job, Evangelista recorded the death of Jerome Roa at 2:56 am on August 20, 2016. Jerome Roa was 27 and found half an hour past midnight. His body was found curled into the seat of a red tricycle with a tin sidecar attached, blood pouring out from a pair of gunshot wounds in the back of his neck. He had no other marks besides those wounds. Jerome was a drug addict, but recovered before he was killed. Evangelista was able to interview his grandmother named Josephine, who was 67 at the time. Evangelista stayed behind to talk to bystanders, who basically said that they didn’t care and that he deserved what was coming. This was the eighth week of the war.

On her first night of the job, Lopez recorded the death of five bodies at Malabon Public Cemetery 

Three of them were dead and two died in the hospital. There was a sign left behind, saying, “Drug Pushers”. Later on, she took a photo three months into the war at the same cemetery. The corpse of a seven-year-old was found naked and bloody. The suspect was a neighbor who was a known drunk and addict. Eloisa’s picture included the father who wept and the mother who mourned.

This night’s killing happened at Pandacan in Manila. Lerma recorded the death of three victims that were killed in a police operation. No reporters were allowed so he climbed up a next-door balcony. The neighbors in the area introduced him to a daughter of one of the dead. Lerma noticed that the daughter couldn’t grieve because it showed that she had sympathy for the drug pushers. Another call happened five hours later on Taft Avenue. The body was curled in a fetal position inside a white grain sack. He was found with his face wrapped in packing tape with a sign that identified the man. It said he was an addict, warning others “You will be next”. Lerma heard a cry from a lady nearby who was screaming. Reporters and photographers were harassing her, making her upset even though she claimed she never knew the dead. He quickly realized everyone was losing their dignity.

Journalists, especially photographers, were on the frontlines documenting a brutal and controversial war on drugs that claimed thousands of lives. They documented the violence and deaths by taking photos of the mutilated victims. Many put their lives on the line because of threats and targeted attacks. Their main focus was to expose the government and police system that allowed these killings to happen, and even gave killing orders. The images captured by photographers working in the Philippines appeared in major international publications, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Time, and BBC News, among others. These photographs have been crucial in the fight for justice, providing a visual record of events that might otherwise have gone unnoticed or been downplayed in official accounts.

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Raffy Lerma is a photographer who grew up in Manila. His most famous work was from the Philippine War on Drugs during Duterte’s rule. Most of his work are photos of the dead who were victims of the police and assassins that worked behind the scenes. He worked closely with Evangelista to help expose the corrupted government of the Philippines, from publishing photos and articles to dedicating their lives to documenting the War on Drugs. Lerma not only shared the devastating and graphic photos of the victims, but he also told their heartbreaking stories, not shying away from details. He has played an important role in exposing the Philippine government and sharing the atrocities happening in the country with the rest of the world. 

https://www.raffylerma.com/

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Eloisa was also a photojournalist who was born in Manila. She started out as a photo correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. After Duterte was elected, she started documenting the extrajudicial killings as a personal project. She then started to work for Rappler in 2017. Like Lerma, she worked closely with Evangelista, recording the tragic stories of the victims of the war. Her photographs and descriptions of the victims helped show the world the devastating war Duterte started.

https://www.eloisaalopez.com/about

In the book, 'Some People Need Killing', Patricia Evangelista described the stories of the victims and survivors of former President Duterte's War on Drugs. One prominent story was that of Norma Lopez, the mother of Djastin with a D. The Lopez family lived in Tondo and Djastin was diagnosed with epilepsy at a young age. He became addicted to meth, which led to his extrajudicial killing by the police. 

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Djastin's mother, Normy, fought back after the brutal killing of her son by requesting police reports of the incident. She then subsequently filed a murder complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman with the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL). Her efforts were successful in that one officer involved, Police Staff Sergeant Gerry G Genalope, was found guilty of grave misconduct. 

Most notable to the public was Normy's volunteering with the group 'Rise up for Life and Justice'. She spoke at protests and wrote a poem that was published in the newspapers.  

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