Monthly Archives: June 2017

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gives a speech during Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 27. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gives a speech during Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 27.

The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, celebrates his first year in office Friday. Since becoming president, he has picked a fight with former President Obama, cursed out the Pope, joked about raping women and declared his "separation" from the United States to pursue a more independent foreign policy with new friends China and Russia.

But none of that really matters at home.

What does matter is that Duterte ran for president promising a brutal, bloody war on drugs. And he's delivered.

More than 7,000 alleged drug suspects have died in extrajudicial killings, in encounters with police or gunned down in so-called vigilante killings. The killings have drawn widespread international condemnation, with Human Rights Watch describing Duterte's first year in power as a "human rights calamity."

But here's the thing: Duterte is actually more popular now than when he was elected.

People gather in a bar popular with students from nearby De La Salle University. Alecs Ongcal for NPR hide caption

A year ago, he won the presidency with just under 40 percent of the vote. Today, according to the latest opinion polls, his approval rating is between 75 percent and 80 percent.

"He's a man of his word. He's a man who does what he says he's going to do," says Clarisse Santiago, an 18-year-old student from Manila. "It's because of him that drug-related crime is going down."

"He's like a father for every Filipino," says Daniel Bernardo, 31, a political science Ph.D. student. "I believe in his integrity. Of course, you can't say he's perfect. He has flaws. But he's a game-changer, not a traditional politician."

Both are sitting in one of the many bars across the street from Manila's De La Salle University, where the clientele is mostly middle- to upper-middle class students. The extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs aren't much of an issue, at least among the Duterte supporters here.

"I don't even consider them extrajudicial killings," Bernardo says. "It's a moral killing, in a way. It's like a pest in your house. If you see a cockroach or a mosquito, you'd kill it. For me, if you're a drug user, a drug seller, you're a sickness in society. You need to disappear."

A man walks down a small street in the Arellano district of Manila. Alecs Ongcal for NPR hide caption

If that sounds cold, there's a reason people like Bernardo feel that way, says Jose Manuel Diokno, a longtime human rights activist and the dean of De La Salle University's law school.

"It's because we have a very weak legal system and people are fed up and they want to see results, and they don't seem to mind the shortcuts as long as they get results," Diokno says.

But not everyone is on board.

"If you look at the recent surveys, support among the poor has gone down," Diokno says. "There are less of the poor supporting it because they are feeling the brunt of the extrajudicial killings."

'We're scared of the police'

Arellano, just a few blocks from the university, is a slum area I've been visiting since the drug war began last year. Before then, residents say, there was a lot of drug-related crime here.

Not anymore. The police have rounded up hundreds of alleged drug users and dealers in the past year. And more than a dozen alleged drug suspects have been killed in encounters with police.

"It's safer now, because the addicts are either gone or lying low," says Cindy Medrano, a 26-year-old mother of two.

But there's a new problem, she says: "We're not scared of the addicts. We're scared of the police and how they're harassing us, just barging into our houses and violating our rights."

Cindy's got a 27-year-old brother who recently got out of jail. He stopped at home just long enough to see his mother, she says, then left for the provinces.

"He was scared he'd be a target," she says that he'd be killed. "He said he wouldn't come back as long as Duterte was president."

Down a nearby alley, I go to visit Sylvia Garcia, whose son Aristotle was killed in an encounter with police back in September. I ask her how it's going.

"It's hard," she says. "I've not yet moved on."

Shoppers stroll in a night market in Manila's Arellano neighborhood. Alecs Ongcal for NPR hide caption

She says she's noticed that a lot of young men have moved on or, more precisely, fled in the past few months. Like Cindy, she says the neighborhood is quieter these days and people are afraid of the police.

The family never believed the police explanation that Aristotle was shot while resisting arrest. Garcia says he was executed, plain and simple.

The crime scene photos didn't do much to dispel that argument. But the family didn't fight when the case was closed two days after his death.

Sylvia tells me the policeman who shot her son was killed in a drive-by shooting by vigilantes on a motorcycle a few weeks after her son's funeral.

"Karma," she says, smiling. In the absence of justice, she says, it's better than nothing.

'They can kill you anytime'

The Mallari family, who live across Arellano St. and down another alley, have given up on justice too. Marcelina Mallari's son Robert was killed by police in an alleged drug-related operation in the neighborhood a few months ago. That's the official story, anyway.

Someone on the inside has admitted Robert's killing was a mistake that the cops were after another guy and Robert was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Marcelina Mallari (right) and her daughter Gina share the heartache of losing Robert, Mallari's son and Gina's brother, in the drug war. Alecs Ongcal for NPR hide caption

Marcelina Mallari (right) and her daughter Gina share the heartache of losing Robert, Mallari's son and Gina's brother, in the drug war.

Robert's sister Gina says she knows the police officer who killed her brother. But the family is not about to challenge the official explanation.

"We're scared," Gina says. "If they want to, they can kill you anytime, anywhere."

There are two young men in the family they still need to protect her son and her nephew.

"That's the reason we decide to be quiet, not rock the boat anymore," she says. "What if another victim will be one of my family because we pushed for justice?"

"So you've given up on justice because you fear retribution," I say.

Baby Roseann plays with her two aunts and mother Rachel Quebec (far right) in their small house. Roseann's father, Clarence Jepadre, 17, was stabbed and killed last year. His body was found with a packet of marijuana and a note saying, "I'm a pusher... Don't be like me." Alecs Ongcal for NPR hide caption

"Yes. Exactly," Gina says.

"Yes," her mother agrees. "We don't have a choice."

About a hundred yards down the alley and around the corner, I visit Rachel Quebec. Her boyfriend, Clarence Jepadre, 17, was killed a few months back, too stabbed nine times, then wrapped in plastic, with a packet of marijuana next to him and a sign attached to his body that read "I'm a pusher. I'm a robber. Don't be like me."

The police blamed vigilantes. The family blames the cops.

Quebec doesn't know who to blame, and she's struggling emotionally and financially. She can't get used to the idea of Clarence began gone. Sometimes their baby daughter, Roseann, will point at the door and say "Papa, papa," she says. And sometimes she and other family members feel Clarence's presence late at night.

"We believe his spirit is lingering because his case isn't solved yet," she says. "There's been no justice. Clarence can't accept what's happened to him, so his spirit just lingers here, waiting."

Undocumented killings

It's going to be a long wait. The homicide detective in charge of the case, Nino Sadsad, says the investigation is ongoing, but he has no leads. And this neighborhood is not even one of the worst affected by the war on drugs.

The emotional cost of losing a loved one isn't the only struggle families face. There's the financial cost, too, says De La Salle University's Diokno, who also chairs the Philippines' Free Legal Assistance Group.

A policeman stands guard near the body of a suspected drug dealer on a street in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on March 1. Police investigators said the victim was shot and killed by unidentified men. Romeo Ranoco/Reuters hide caption

"They have to pay as much as 15,000 to 25,000 pesos to recover the bodies of their relatives," Diokno says, about $300 to $500 a huge sum for poor families who still have to arrange a funeral as well.

So many have come up with a workaround.

"Some relatives, some families, don't wait for the scene-of-the-crime operatives to claim the body," Diokno says. "As soon as the police or the vigilantes, or whoever is responsible, commit the extrajudicial killings, before the authorities can come, [the families] get the body and bury it so they don't have to pay."

Diokno says those killings don't get recorded. He believes many others go unrecorded these days, too. His legal assistance group receives reports from communities of people just disappearing. And nobody, he says, knows where the bodies are.

He doesn't believe the commonly accepted estimate of 7,000 dead since the war on drugs began last year, and thinks the number may be between 10,000 and 12,000.

Meanwhile, Duterte has given no indication he'll relent anytime soon though even some of his staunchest supporters think maybe he should.

"The problem with Duterte now," says Daniel Bernardo, the Ph.D. student, "is that he's so much focused on drugs, he's missing a lot of opportunities."

By that, he means fighting corruption another Duterte campaign pledge and a whole lot of other priorities, like improving infrastructure and creating more jobs at home to keep people from having to work abroad. Overseas remittances the money sent home by workers abroad account for some 10 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product.

Meanwhile, the Philippine military is battling ISIS-linked militants on Duterte's home island of Mindanao, a challenge that will test Duterte in the months to come. But the defining factor of his first year as Philippine president is the other war the war on drugs which shows no sign of ending.

See the article here:

Philippine President Duterte's First Year In Office Is Marked By Bloody War On Drugs - NPR

Moro Islamic Liberation Front. AFP FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY Moro rebels have formalized their cooperation with the governments anti-drugs campaign with the signing on Friday of an agreement on how to go about with anti-illegal drugs operations in areas under the insurgents influence.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Isidro Lapea said the protocol of cooperation on anti-illegal drug operations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was a good manifestation to help in President Dutertes campaign to rid the country of illegal drugs.

There was an offer by the MILF to help (in anti-drug operations) in MILF-influenced areas so we have to involve them, Lapea said.

The signing between representatives of the government and the Moro rebel group came a year after the Duterte administration launched its illegal drugs crackdown which saw the seizure of tons of illegal drugs valued in the billions of pesos.

While existing mechanisms between the two sides through the Ad hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) have to be considered, Lapea said the protocol on cooperation would take away some of the steps so anti-drug operations in MILF areas could proceed more expeditiously.

Whats important here was the cooperation, the manifestation of support and assistance in the anti-illegal drug campaign which we appreciate very much, the PDEA chief said.

He said the AHJAG mechanism, created to oversee the ongoing ceasefire agreement between the biggest Moro insurgent group in the country and the government, would be used in the conduct of operations to avoid miscommunication and miscoordination that might lead to violent incidents on the ground.

Undersecretary Catalino Cuy, officer-in-charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the protocol came about following a lengthy series of meetings between representatives of both sides, and that MILF-held areas have also been affected by the drug menace.

He said the Moro rebel group in 2015 has prohibited the use, sale and proliferation of illegal drugs in Bangsamoro areas, declaring the illegal substance as haram or forbidden in Islam.

With the war on drugs declared by President Duterte and the MILF campaign against illegal drugs, (both parties) agreed to coordinate and cooperate in the campaign. The partnership aims to produce optimum result in the war on drugs, Cuy, a retired police general, said.

An agreement of cooperation and coordination in anti-drugs operations in MILF-influenced communities was signed by representatives of both parties on July 2016, Cuy said.

He said another meeting was called which resulted to the drafting of an anti-illegal drugs protocol that would clearly define the roles of the government and the MILF in the conduct of anti-illegal drug activities.

The commitment of the MILF in addressing the drug problem in their areas will greatly help the war on drugs. The support of the MILF just show that we could be one in our common goal of providing drug-free communities, the DILG official said.

Lapea said the MILF can also do anti-drugs activities in their areas like conducting citizens arrests against drug suspects who would then be handed to government authorities.

Lawyer Abdul Dataya, AHJAG representative for the MILF, said their role was limited to coordinating with government forces and furnishing of list of drug personalities in their area.

Asked if they would also take a direct part in anti-drug operations in communities under their influence, Dataya said: We leave that to regular (government) forces. But the MILF will assist in trying to prevent possible a mis-encounter. We have a group who will coordinate with the Armed Forces.

Chief Supt. Pierre Bucsit, AHJAG representative for the government, said the protocol would serve as a standard to be followed in anti-illegal drugs operations in MILF-influenced areas.

Dataya said the protocol would be applicable in MILF areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and MILF camps in Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao and some parts of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, in Davao region.

In the ARMM, Lapea said illegal drugs are rampant in 366 of Maguindanaos 509 barangays (villages), or about 72 percent while Lanao del Sur, which includes Marawi has 313 of its 1, 059 villages or 29 percent, affected.

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MILF joins Duterte's war on drugs | Inquirer News - Inquirer.net

Jocelyn stands near the casket at the wake of her husband, Cesar Carillo, Friday, dawn. He was abducted by masked men on June 6, then a day later, he was found dead, his body showing signs of torture. Carillo was one of two suspected victims of drug related killings in Navotas June, 9, 2017 Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA- What happened was a necessity.

A year since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office, his top cop maintains the necessity of the campaign that launched the Philippines in the international stage anewthe war on drugs.

What happened was a necessity para magbago, a necessity element for the change weve been looking for, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said Friday.

The police have been the lead agency in Dutertes anti-narcotics campaign with its series of Oplan Tokhang (knock and plead) operations throughout the country. Police officers knock at the homes of suspected drug peddlers and users and plead for them to surrender.

The campaign has earned praises and criticism from different sectors locally and internationally. It has also earned the PNP allegations of abuses, particularly extrajudicial killings.

Police data shows that nearly 3,000 drug suspects have died in presumed legitimate police operations in Duterte's campaign against illegal drugs.

Out of 9,432 homicide cases from July 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, or the first nine months of the Duterte administration, 1,847 have been found to be drug-related, with 5,691 cases under investigation.

Duterte's anti-narcotics drive has also resulted in a 26.45 percent drop in the estimated total drug market and a 28.57 percent reduction in index crimes, according to police data.

Though controversial, the campaign has improved the security climate said Dela Rosa, noting that he has heard stories of Filipinos saying they felt safer to walk in the streets.

If we did not declare war on drugs, this problem could not be addressed, could not be unmasked, could not be uncovered, Dela Rosa said.

National Capital Region Police Office Regional Director Oscar Albayalde said the campaign is simply a fulfillment of Dutertes campaign promise.

I think hes (Duterte) making good [on] his promise with regards to his war on drugs. Hes very serious on this and this has direct effects on the different crimes that has been going on or that are being committed particularly here in Metro Manila, he said.

DIFFERENT APPROACH?

Asked if the police plan to take on the narcotics problem as a public health issue as other sectors have called for, Dela Rosa said that he, as a police officer, has to look at the problem from his own perspective.

For me, being a police officer, I must treat the problem from my own point of view. Being a police officer, that's a problem on criminality, he said.

We feel that the problem is ours. Lately, nakita natin na kailangan the problem should be addressed by the whole of government approach and, lately, [the] whole nation, he added.

The PNP chief, however, welcomes help from the Department of Health in approaching the problem as a health concern.

Siguro dapat DOH na ang mag-treat ng problem as a health problem, he said.

NO MERCY

Under Dutertes leadership, the police force has been hounded by several controversies such as corruption, involvement in the drug trade, and abuse of power. But throughout all of these, the PNP has enjoyed the backing of the president.

Albayalde said Duterte's support for the police should not be taken as a signal to commit abuses.

I think its within the limits of the law. Hindi niya (Duterte) ibig sabihin na when you violate the law, you still have his back, Albayalde said, adding that he believes the police have not abused their power because of the presidents assurance of protection.

Dela Rosa, on the other hand, maintained that he has no mercy for erring cops.

I think I am the chief PNP who has dismissed a lot of people already in so short a time, he said.

I have no mercy as far as itong mga erring personnel, mga ninja cops, itong mga personnel ng PNP na involved sa sindikato, I have no mercy for them. I have to hit them head on, he said.

Read the original:

PNP maintains war on drugs a 'necessity' - ABS-CBN News

Its probably just a coincidence that three of our 10 favorite songs from June premiered on the same day, the very first day of the month. It kicked off a calendar page that offered album announcements from cornerstone acts like Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, that saw Halsey and Katy Perry become the first two women to top the Billboard 200 in 2017, and that featured new album drops from Phoenix and Fleet Foxes.

Its not that those artists didnt have entries worthy of our monthly wrap-up (well, except for Perry). It just speaks to how strong of a month June was that cuts like J-Boy from Phoenix or Run from Foo Fighters had to be left off the list. Also notable was a surprising return to form from Iron & Wine with Call It Dreaming, DJDS continuing to elbow their way into mainstream consideration with Trees on Fire, most everything from the Lorde and Vince Staples albums, and a trio of Radiohead tracks that have remained dormant for two decades.

What we did settle on was a pair of Atlanta rappers striking gold in collaboration, a standout track off the debut LP from TDEs first lady, a former Vampire Weekend member shining in technicolor, and our favorite sister act doing their best to honor the memory of the Miami Sound Machine. Plus, you know, those three songs that kicked off June 2017 to be a quite memorable month for music.

Philip Cosores Executive Editor

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Top Songs of the Month: Vince Staples, The War on Drugs, and Lorde - Consequence of Sound (blog)