The death of 17-year-old student Kian Delos Santos in August 2017 symbolized the brutality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “drug war.” He was shot in the head twice as he begged for his life. His last words to the police: “Tama na po! May exam pa ako bukas! (Please stop! I have an exam tomorrow!)”
Police claimed he was killed because he fought the arrest but CCTV footage documented how the teenager was dragged to the alley where he was killed. His story roused anger nationwide. Charges led to the guilty sentence of three police officers, the first of such convictions since the drug war began.
The brutality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” was unconscionable as it killed innocent victims including children and left their families devastated emotionally and oftentimes financially.
The next president will need to break the cycle of impunity in human rights violations, said Carlos Conde of the Human Rights Watch.
“The killings need to stop. Not just of the drug war victims, but also activists, journalists, and the leftists. And even, you know, the suspected guerrillas. That has to be communicated clearly from the very start,” he said.
The violence that Duterte unleashed in his drug war was just the beginning. The culture of impunity spread to other government institutions, leading to a collapse in the rule of law.
Duterte’s destruction of the country’s democratic institutions was systematic, said Conde. He politicized and militarized the executive branch, letting the security sector address challenges such as illegal drugs and the pandemic, which would have been better left to health experts.
He captured Congress partly by instilling fear as he accused local politicians of involvement with illegal drugs. He compromised the judiciary by removing Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via the questionable quo warranto petition.
“Then he took the other pillars. The media, particularly Rappler, PCIJ, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and practically all the media outlets that have been critical not just of the “drug war,” but human rights abuses in general,” said Conde.
Duterte also targeted civil society, demonizing human rights organizations and civic groups. “It’s almost like every front, there was a destruction of the institutions of democracy in the Philippines,” Conde said.
Conde said the political dysfunction certainly did not start during Duterte’s presidency. “The cracks in our system have always been there… Duterte came along and brought it to its, I suppose, logical conclusion. The cracks were there and all he had to do was to smash it to pieces.”
The next president will need to send a clear message to the world that the new administration respects human rights and democratic principles.
Internally, the next president will need to empower the Commission on Human Rights and “put in place a structure or some system to make sure that accountability will happen at some point,” Conde said.
Externally, he or she should rejoin the International Criminal Court and resume engagements with the European Union, the United States Government, and the UN Human Rights Council.
Abuza said the Philippines would also need to renew its role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean as “a really important voice within Asean for human rights, for media freedoms, for democracy.”