Reactions to the Philippine drug war
[4] The President has pointed out that not a single case was filed against him when Senator Leila de Lima was Chair of the Commission on Human Rights for 7 years.
[14] Aljazeera reported that John Collins, director of the London School of Economics International Drug Policy Project, said: "Targeting the supply side can have short-term effects.
"[1] Malacañang and the chief of police declared the drug war a success, claiming that supply has been cut by 90 percent, with the government regaining authority at national penitentiary Bilibid where incarcerated leaders of cartels continue to control the narcotics chain from their swish cells.
[15] In June 2017 the price of methamphetamine on the streets of Manila was lower than it had been at the start of Duterte's presidency, according to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency data.
[18] The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle acknowledged that people were right to be "worried about extrajudicial killings", along with other "form[s] of murder": abortion, unfair labor practices, wasting of food, and "selling illegal drugs, pushing the youth into vices".
[20][21] In June 2016, Gary Song-Huann Lin, the representative of Taiwan in the Philippines, welcomed Duterte's plan to declare a war against criminality and illegal drugs.
[23] In 2018, Ricardo Parojinog, an alleged narcopolitician at Ozamiz and the brother of Reynaldo, was detained in Taiwan for illegal immigration and later deported to the Philippines;[24] he was then found dead in September 2020.
[29] In September 2016 Budi Waseso, head of Indonesia's National Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN), said that he was currently contemplating copying the Philippines' hardline tactics against drug traffickers.
[36] This was responded to positively by Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah the next day according to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.[37] Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said "he respects the method undertaken by the Philippine government as it is suitable for their country’s situation", while stressing that "Malaysia will never follow such an example as we have our own methods such as seizing assets used in drug trafficking with resultant funds to be channelled back towards rehabilitation, prevention and enforcement of laws against drugs".
[40]On December 16, Duterte and Singaporean President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to work together in the fight against terrorism and illegal drugs.
"[42] In response, the Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano stated that the European Parliament had crossed a red line when it called for interfering in the Philippines’ sovereignty.
[43] In response, at a press conference Duterte made an obscene hand gesture and claimed that the European Parliament's members were "hypocrites" whose colonial-era ancestors killed "thousands" of Arabs and other peoples.
Senators Marco Rubio, Edward Markey, and Christopher Coons expressed their concerns regarding the alleged extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in Duterte's war on drugs.
Rubio, Markey and Coons also questioned U.S. secretary of state John Kerry's pledge of $32-million funding for training and other law-enforcement assistance during his visit to Manila.
[48] The US ambassador in Manila announced on December 14, 2016, that the US foreign aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, would cancel funding to the Philippines due to "significant concerns around rule of law and civil liberties in the Philippines," explaining that aid recipients were required to demonstrate a "commitment to the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights."
[53] In January 2018, Philippines' presidential spokesman Harry Roque relayed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed support for Duterte's campaign against narcotics and also called for stronger cooperation against illegal drugs.
Children and thousands of people have been killed during anti-drug raids, which the authorities have called "collateral damage," since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his "war on drugs" on June 30, 2016.
[57] The International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressed concern over the drug-related killings in the country on October 13, 2016.
"[59] She also warned that any person in the country who provokes "or engages in acts of mass violence by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, and in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of ICC" will be prosecuted before the court.
[64][65] In August 2018, activists and eight families of victims of the drug war filed a second petition with the ICC, accusing Duterte of murder and crimes against humanity, and calling for his indictment for thousands of extrajudicial killings, which according to the 50-page complaint, included "brazen" executions by police acting with impunity.
Neri Colmenares, a lawyer acting for the group, said that "Duterte is personally liable for ordering state police to undertake mass killings."
The 38 nations included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
[69][70][71] On July 11, 2019, the UNHRC adopted an Iceland-proposed resolution calling on the council to look into the rising homicides related to the drug war and the human rights situation in the country.
"It reeks of nauseating politics completely devoid of respect for the sovereignty of our country, even as it is bereft of the gruesome realities of the drug menace," he added.
According to the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS) the government didn't find the need for such a country-specific inquiry on the Philippines as there are so many existing mechanisms wherein the information in the country can be accessed.
It requested High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet to provide support for the country in the continued fulfilment of its international human rights obligations and commitments.
[79] Following the UN Report, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet called for the United Nations Human Rights Council to consider supporting new accountability measures against perpetrators of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines’ war on illegal drugs while also reiterating concerns over proposed new anti-terror legislation, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 stating "The recent passage of the new Anti-Terrorism Act heightens our concerns about the blurring of important distinctions between criticism, criminality and terrorism, the law could have a further chilling effect on human rights and humanitarian work, hindering support to vulnerable and marginalized communities… So I would I urge the President to refrain from signing the law, and to initiate a broad-based consultation process to draft legislation that can effectively prevent and counter violent extremism, but which contains some safeguards to prevent its misuse against people engaged in peaceful criticism and advocacy."
