Drug trafficking in a state can take nasty turns, and there’s enough justification for Duterte’s decision to fight so hard against the drug mafias in the Philippines. The Guardian reported that even the strongest supporters of war against drugs have agreed that Duterte’s war isn’t working.
During the summit of drug policy, the UN member states said that the way to eliminate drugs from a country would be to take a balanced and humane approach. However, the President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte refuses to accept this method.
He is adamant on continuing his strong-handed approach to eliminate the narcotics. Duterte’s presidential campaign was based on his decision to remove the menace of drugs from the country.
Upon winning the Presidential election, he started cleaning the problem with immediate effect. He targeted any individual suspected of consuming or selling drugs. At his presidential inauguration, Duterte said that he would slaughter the idiots consuming drugs since they have destroyed his country.
Financial Times reported that Duterte’s anti-drug campaign had killed more than 6,000 people. Law enforcement officials and the paramilitary have been responsible for most of these killings. Reports claim that majority of the deaths took place because the officers shot the individuals because of self-defense during drug busts.
With over 38,000 people jailed for any association with the drug cartel, Duterte’s anti-drug campaign has taken the shape of war, and it refuses to stop anytime soon. The president doesn’t mind the bloodbath that he has started in the Philippines.
He came on record to boast about the number of people killed during the anti-drug campaign and said that he would personally take charge of this when he lived in Davao, before becoming the President.
Duterte has always been known to be a hard task-master, and he had taken charge to clean the streets of Davao when he was the Mayor, and he did deliver on his claims. During his two decades as the Mayor, he had completely cleaned up the area and argued that Davao could be called the safest place on earth.
On paper, the city has changed in appearance, but the reality is slightly different. It is cleaner, with a better legislative implementation, but residents offer a different image of the city. They claim that while the dealing in narcotics might have declined, the city continues to witness a high rate of murder and rape.
In the past one year that he has been in power, Duterte has compared himself to Adolf Hitler. He jokingly compared his anti-drug campaign deaths to the millions killed by Hitler. When world leaders have come out to criticize him for his action, he is quick to dismiss them.
Even though the Amnesty International has condemned his technique to eliminate narcotics from the Philippines, he refuses to budge from his policy.
His rule might be termed as a crime against humanity, but that doesn’t reflect the way his government is viewed. According to an independent poll, 77% of the people claim that his presidency is a successful one.
With President Duterte continuing with his agenda to remove the narcotics, the defense ministry has asked him to make use of the military in the war on drugs. Duterte had previously asked the army generals to extend their support to clean up the country, and the defense ministry formalized the plan and said that the military would come to his aid.