Duterte's #WarOnDrugs Remains to be a Failure Unless He Adds a Rehab Component

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Imagine our country without a presumption of innocence, to imagine our country that once you're named, you are guilty. That's exactly the situation now."

#WarOnDrugs should really be a war on drugs and not a war on humanity. Instead, the drug war has dehumanized people.

Malacañang claims that the government is winning the war against illegal drugs. The war on drugs was said to have widespread support, with President Rody Duterte enjoying a 91% approval rating at the end of July, largely due to his hard-line position.

Is it really? Go ahead, keep telling that to yourselves!

The war on drugs has become a polarizing affair that is dividing a nation weary of criminal rampancy. At one end are the police trying to effect much-needed change while at the opposite side are legislators affirming the rule of law.

However, no matter how loudly I say that the war on drugs is a failure, my comments will not signal any substantial change since the government is never listening. The PNP Chief, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, himself has issued an order to the police that they should kill anybody resisting arrest and worry about human rights violations later. There have been many reports that people get killed even if they surrendered peacefully. The statements of the police are also mostly seen unbelievable and illogical.

What is wrong with Duterte's War on Drugs? It does not have a Rehab component.

We should also bring in methods against this madness by learning from the experience of other countries. Brute force is never the answer.

It only aims to purge the suspected drug users and pushers, and never to rehabilitate them. The crackdown is absolutely flawed and done to make up the numbers so that people will think the Duterte administration is indeed successful. It has created suffering on an unimaginable scale, with no discernible benefit.

"My order is shoot to kill you. I don't care about human rights" - Duterte

The death toll has reached nightmare proportions. People are being killed without going through the due process of law. This is not really a battle between drug cartels and government forces, rather a purging of the defenseless poor who, unlike their affluent counterparts, have no financial sources to be blackmailed by the government.

Death squads, prisons full to bursting – and a leader who wants citizens to kill drug dealers to “make his day.”

This is how the new President of the Philippines has been waging the “war on drugs.”

“Do your duty, and if in the process you kill 1,000 persons because you were doing your duty, I will protect you.” - Duterte

It's time to admit that the war on drugs was merely invented to excuse systemic discrimination, incarceration and police intervention. The Philippines' war on drugs has gone out of hand! The president himself is motivating the police to kill even if they violate human rights and due process of law.

Do we easily give up on humanity by thinking it is pointless to even try to turn them back into responsible and decent members of the society?

How could we think that low?

I believe man is inherently good, and those who are misguided are merely victims of circumstances. Everyone could still change for the better if given the proper means to improve themselves. We should never lose hope on our fellow men.

"Let's investigate the entire drug problem. Let it be more systematic, not personality oriented." After all, it should be a war on drugs and not a war on its users.

Why are the police are under “shoot-to-kill” orders for drug suspects? Have we totally approved on scrapping the due process of law? Is the justice system really that bad that the President refuses to subject the suspects through it in fear of just having the suspects released?

"Drug-related killings are slowly becoming the terrifying norm. As we sleep, amid the elation and anger, cheers and protests, the blood spill continues."

The Duterte administration's war on drugs has earned critical views from the international media. It has done more harm than good. Hundreds of people continue to be arrested, and killed, for drug offenses, alarming everyone that this government is never going to give any suspect the due process of law.

Are we expecting more people killed in the next days? This will be a nightmarish 6 years under the Duterte administration.