Few photojournalists covered former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs as extensively as Vincent Go. In this photo essay, he collaborates with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) to present a visual timeline of the former president’s alleged crimes against humanity.
When he was out on the hustings in the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections, Rodrigo Duterte projected an aura of a brash, irreverent candidate. But his off-the-cuff remarks – “I will ride a jetski to the Spratlys’’ or “I will kill these drug lords to save the future of your children” – added to his populist appeal that endeared him to the masses.
Duterte ran on a platform of change. His campaign promise to end the illegal drug trade in six months resonated with many Filipinos, especially those living in populous barangays crawling with drug users and peddlers.
During a “miting de avance” at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on May 7, 2016, Duterte promised to finish off all the drug lords and said the fishes in Manila Bay will grow big and fat by feasting on their cadavers.
“If you want to become rich after I am elected president, you should go into the funeral business,” he said to thunderous cheers and chants from hundreds of thousands of supporters.
If you want to become rich after I am elected president, you should go into the funeral business.
Rodrigo duterte
Duterte said: “I will kill these drug lords to save the future of your children and the future of this country. Just give me six months and that is what I promise you!”
Many Filipinos hoping for an end to crime, corruption and illegal drugs believed his boasts. His populist approach resonated with the masses, winning the hearts and minds of many, even though he was offering a “Band-Aid” solution to problems that have long plagued the country.
I will kill these drug lords to save the future of your children and the future of this country. Just give me six months and that is what I promise you!
rodrigo duterte, 2016 presidential campaign
Duterte was elected the country’s 16th president on May 9, 2016, garnering 16.6 million votes.
The killings had begun even before he took his oath on June 30, 2016. Bodies of drug suspects were being dumped on the streets of Manila, as if these were a “pasalubong” (welcoming gift) for the new Malacanang occupant, who had earned the moniker “the Punisher’’ for his tough anti-crime policy as Davao City mayor.
What many believed would spell the end of the drug trade became a bloody campaign, turning the streets of Manila into a killing field. What many thought was a chance for their loved ones to turn a new leaf became a life-ending encounter.
In Duterte’s first 100 days, the number of killings was staggering with more than a thousand drug suspects gunned down a month.
The police operatives were allegedly pressured to perform and produce immediate results under operations dubbed “One Time Big Time” (OTBT).
The campaign achieved its goal of sowing fear, creating shock and awe and silencing would-be critics. It drew international condemnation, prompting police operatives to claim that the suspects resisted arrest and fired the first shot (“nanlaban”).
Victims’ families refuted police narratives that the suspects were killed in shootouts. Their loved ones were instead taken into custody before they were shot, they said.
There were instances when family members claimed they were threatened with arrest unless they turned in the “suspect” in a case of “palit-ulo” (head swapping).
As early as October 2016, four months into Duterte’s presidency, then International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she was “closely following” the drug war deaths in the country.
It was then that Duterte suggested withdrawing the Philippines from the ICC.
A “secret jail” behind a cabinet shelf at the Manila Police District’s Station 1 in Tondo, Manila, was discovered during a surprise jail inspection on April 27, 2017.
It was hiding 12 small-time drug dealers, who remitted their monthly earnings to police operatives under threat of death. Then Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa came to the defense of the police officers implicated in the “secret jail” fiasco, claiming the inspection was politically motivated.
Days earlier, on April 24 that year, the lawyer Jude Sabio filed a complaint against Duterte before the ICC. He represented Edgar Matobato, a confessed assassin of the Davao Death Squad, who pointed to Duterte as the mastermind of killings in the president’s hometown.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and then Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano also filed a “supplemental complaint” with the ICC.
Duterte celebrated the killings.
At the 19th founding anniversary of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) in Malacañang on Aug. 16, 2017, Duterte happily reported to Cabinet officials and guests the previous day’s “one time big time operation” in Bulacan province.
“It is good, if we could kill another 32 each day, maybe we could cure what ails this country,” he said.
It is good, if we could kill another 32 each day, maybe we could cure what ails this country.’
rodrigo duterte
That night, 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos was killed in an alleged shootout with policemen during an alleged drug bust in Caloocan City.
The student’s death would spark the first major protest against Duterte’s bloody campaign, drawing Filipinos to the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City.
Days after the killing, an online video surfaced showing operatives dragging Delos Santos to an alley, where they shot him. It contradicted the police’s “nanlaban” narrative.
The government was initially undeterred.
On that same day in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, the Caloocan Police Station was awarded the “Best City Police Station” in the National Capital Region for its outstanding performance in the anti-drug campaign in rites presided by Dela Rosa.
But the video went viral and sparked public outrage. It prompted the relief of the Caloocan city police chief and Northern Police District commander.
Duterte was compelled to meet with the parents of the slain teenager. He promised justice for his death.
A year later, in November 2018, three police officers were convicted for his murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua.
In February 2018, the ICC finally launched a “prelimary examination” into alleged crimes against humanity in Duterte’s drug war.
On Duterte’s orders, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. Duterte accused the ICC of “crusading” against him and condemned the United Nation’s “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks” on him and his administration.
The country’s withdrawal from the ICC took effect the following year, 2019. The ICC, however, retained jurisdiction of alleged crimes committed when the country was a member.
On September 15, 2021, the pre-trial chamber of the ICC authorized a formal investigation into Duterte’s drug war.
The Philippines, through Ambassador to the Netherlands Eduardo Malaya, requested the ICC to defer its investigation of the extrajudicial killings, saying the administration was already looking into these and that the country’s justice system was working.
The probe was temporarily suspended to assess the request.
A full blown investigation only resumed in January 2023 after finding the Philippine government’s investigations into the killings unsatisfactory.
It gave hope to the families of the victims of Duterte’s drug war that justice will be served.
Dr. Raquel Fortun, a prominent forensic pathologist, also conducted re-examinations of cadavers and skeletal remains of drug war victims. She criticized the police for conducting sloppy autopsies and failing to provide accurate information in several cases.
Her work has uncovered irregularities in death certificates and autopsies conducted by law enforcers.
Her findings also showed that many victims had gunshot wounds in the head region, suggesting an intent to kill.
The pursuit of justice went hand in hand with the work of healing.
Dambana ng Paghilom (Shrine of Healing) EJK Memorial was inaugurated on May 1, 2024.
A project of Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation led by Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, it was dedicated to victims of extrajudicial killings on Duterte’s watch.
It became a place of solace and healing, a sacred place for reflection and a powerful symbol of the families’ continued quest for truth and justice.
Edgar Matobato, the self-confessed hitman of the Davao Death Squad who testified against Duterte, slipped out of the country under an assumed name in 2024.
He is now under the ICC’s protective custody and will serve as a witness in the case of crimes against humanity against Duterte.
After finding the image of the Virgin Mary in a trash bin in one of their safehouses, Matobato decided to leave the Davao Death Squad.
Matobato said he is ready to face the consequences of his crime and atone for his sins, but his priority now is to provide closure to the tens of thousands of lives lost during Duterte’s drug war.
On March 11, Duterte was arrested over ICC’s crimes against humanity case.
He was flown out of the country on a chartered plane that will take him to The Hague, Netherlands, where the ICC is based. — PCIJ.org