Collusion or collision? The war on drugs in the Philippines
| Autor | Francisco J. Lara, Jr, Nikki Philline C. de la Rosa |
| Páginas | 71-121 |
estu d. socio -jur íd., bog otá (colo mbia) , 22(2)
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Collusion or Collision? The War on Drugs
in the Philippines
¿Colusión o colisión? La guerra contra las drogas en Filipinas
Colusão ou colisão? A guerra contra as drogas nas Filipinas
Franc isco j. lara jr.*
nikki phil line c. de la rosa**
Fecha de r ecep ción: 29 d e ener o de 2020. Fe cha de a probació n: 25 de m ayo de 2020
Doi: https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.9145
Para citar: La ra, F. J., & De la Rosa, N. P. (2020). Collusio n or Collision? T he War on Drugs in the P hilippines .
Estudios Socio-jurídicos, 22(2), 1-51. https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/sociojuridicos/a.9145
ABSTRACT
The spiral of Stat e-led violence against the ill egal drug trade in Southeast A sia neither
ended nor disrupte d this shadow economy and its complex li nks to state and non-state
actors as well as to t he newly emerging violent extrem ism. The evidence in fact shows
that the violent res ponse to the problem has on ly fuelled more econ omic, political ,
and securit y concerns. This is the case i n the Philippines where an indi scriminate and
violent war on drug s has not lived up to its promises. Yet why is there co ntinued public
support for the ant i-drug war despite its fai lures, particularl y from among those who are
often victi mized by its violence? Thi s paper takes an economic sociology app roach to
the problem of illega l drugs and turns the spot light on the threats to embedd ed social
networks posed by t his deadly enterprise. Usin g quantitative and qualitati ve evidence
and case studies f rom a province and city recogn ized as a hotbed in the government’s
anti-drug war, the s tudy will show how collusion and col lision are alternate real ities and
means of adaptin g to an illicit ente rprise that i s bound to many social and e conomic
arrangement s, including those brought about by violent ext remism.
Keywords: P hilippines drug war, illici t drug trade, populism, embedd ed
social networks, violent ext remism, violent conflict, economic sociolog y.
* Professor at the Depa rtment of Sociology, College of Social S ciences and Philosophy,
University of t he Philippines and Senior.
** Country M anager of Internat ional Alert P hilippines. E mail: ndelarosa @internation-
al-alert.org
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est ud. s ocio -ju ríd. , bogot á (c olomb ia) , 22(2 ). ju lio -dici emb re de 2 020 • issn 0124 -0579 issne 2145-4531
Fra nci sco j. lara j r., nikki phil lin e c. d e la ro sa
RESUMEN
La espiral de viole ncia dirigid a por el Estado cont ra el tráfico ilega l de drogas en el
sudeste asiático no t erminó ni interrumpió est a economía sumerg ida y sus complejos
vínculos con act ores estatales y no est atales, así como con el nuevo extrem ismo violento
emergente. De hecho, la evide ncia muestra que la respuesta violent a al problema solo
ha alimentado má s preocupaciones ec onómicas, políticas y de segurid ad. Este es el
caso de Filipinas, donde una guerr a indiscrim inada y violenta cont ra las drogas no ha
cumplido sus promesa s. Sin embargo, ¿por qué hay un continuo ap oyo público para la
guerra contra la s drogas a pesar de sus fracasos, par ticularmente entre aquellos que a
menudo son víctim as de su violencia? Este docume nto adopta un enfoque económico-
sociológico del problema de las drogas ileg ales y pone de relieve las amen azas a las
redes sociales i ntegradas que plantea esta empres a mortal. Utilizan do evidencia cuan-
titativa y cu alitativa, y estudios de c aso de una provincia y ciudad reconoc ida como un
semillero en la g uerra antidroga s del gobierno, el estudio mostrará cómo la colusión
y la colisión son real idades alternat ivas y medios para adaptarse a una empres a ilícita
que está vincu lada a muchas activ idades sociales y ar reglos económicos, incluidos los
provocados por el extrem ismo violento.
Palabras clave: guerra contra las dro gas en Filipinas, trá fico ilícito de dro-
gas, populismo, re des sociales inte gradas, extrem ismo violento, conflicto
violento, sociología económic a.
RESUMO
A espiral de violênc ia dirigida pelo Estado cont ra o tráfico ilegal de drogas no sudest e
asiático não ter minou nem interrompeu esta econom ia paralela e seus complexos
víncu los com atores estatais e não es tatais, assi m como com o novo extremismo v io-
lento emergente. De facto, a ev idência mostra que a res posta violenta ao p roblema
só tem alimentado m ais preocupaçõ es económicas, pol íticas e de segurança. Este é o
caso das Fil ipinas, onde uma guer ra indiscri minada e violent a contra as drogas não
tem cumprido suas p romessas. No entant o, por quê há um contínuo apoio públ ico
para a guerra cont ra as drogas apesar de seus fracas sos, particularmente entre a queles
que frequentemente são v ítimas de sua violência? Este do cumento adota um enfoque
econômico-soc iológico do problema das d rogas ilegais e de staca as ameaç as às redes
sociais integ radas que apresenta esta empr esa mortal. Util izando evidência quantit ativa
e qualitativ a e estudos de caso de uma provínc ia e cidade reconhecida com o um celeiro
na guerra antid rogas do governo, o estudo mos trará como a colusão e a col isão são
realidades alt ernativas e meios para se adap tar a uma empresa ilícit a que está vinculada
a muitas ativid ades sociais e compromissos económic os, incluídos os provocados pelo
extremismo violento.
Palavras- chave: gue rra contra as drog as nas Filipin as, tráfico ilíc ito de
drogas, populi smo, redes sociais integ radas, extremismo v iolento, conflito
violento, sociologia económic a.
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collu sion or col lis ion? the war o n dru gs in t he ph ili ppin es
Introduction
Among the first steps that Ph ilippine president Rodrigo Duterte took
when he assumed power in 2016 was to wage a “war on drugs” in a
manner that he promised would be unlike anythin g the country had seen
in the past.1 In a region that has long endured the continued expansion
of the illegal drug trade and the intense violence that came with it, the
call to action by the Philippine president seemed to be untimely and
out of touch with the growing body of evidence running against it.2
Before long, the war on drugs turned brutal and relentless, and
the body count soared soon after it was launched. The chief of the
Philippine National Police was clear and concise when he announced
at the start of the campaign that the aim was to “neutralize the drug
personalities nationwide”.3 In contrast to previous campaigns, the new
strategy certainly looked like a war, albeit a dirty one —employing ex-
tra-legal and extra-judicial actions that provoked a backlash from local
and international human rights bodies and the local and international
media—. The country’s liberal and democratic standing within a sean
and the United Nations suffered a major blow.
By 2018 the official body count had reached close to five thousand
people within the country, and mostly in the national capital re gion (ncr).4
1 President Duter te declared a “war on drugs” in his fir st State of the Nation Address
(sona) on 25 Jul y 2016 or soon after he was elected Pres ident in the May 2016 elections.
More than a year later, Huma n Rights Watch reported that “ Duterte’s pursuit of his drug wa r
despite intern ational opprobrium and its sk yrocketing death to ll is dismaying but not sur prising.
Duterte’s president ial electoral plat form included lur id pledges of near-biblica l scale extraju-
dicial violence an d promises of mass killin gs of tens of thousands of ‘crimi nals’, whose bodies
he would dump in Manil a Bay” (Human Rights Watch, 7 Se ptember 2017).
2 There i s a vast literature about t he perils of a secur ity-oriented and v iolent approach to
the illegal dr ugs trade. In 2019 the International Dr ug Policy Consortium, a glo bal network of
192 ngos , declared that the objec tives of the war on drugs “to el iminate or reduce sig nificantly’
the illicit cu ltivation, produ ction, traf ficking, sale a nd consumption of dr ugs have not been
achieved and, in most c ases, have caused added health, soc ial, public security and econo mic
harms” (Int ernational Dr ug Policy Consor tium, 19 February 2019). See also Stoicescu and
Lasco (2019) and Duffield (1998).
3 pnp Chief Rol ando De la Rosa later retreated from h is statement by saying that ne u-
tralizat ion meant more arrests r ather than death, despi te the clear instruc tions of the President
that he wanted to see d ead drug lords and p ersonalities ( Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28 Febru-
ar y 20 17).
4 In the offic ial report given to a press brie fing by the Philippine Nat ional Police (pnp),
the police repor ted a total of 98,799 polic e operations leadi ng to the death of 4,251 drug
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