The President of the Phillippines, Rodrigo Duterte, promised a ‘bloody presidency” – and so far, he has delivered.
Seventeen-year-old Kian Delos Santos, was a year eleven student who dreamed of becoming a cop. He is the latest victim of Duterte’s war on drugs. He was killed under the allegation that he was a drug trafficker. A witness states that Delos Santos, an innocent bystander, was dragged into an alleyway by police officers, where he was handed a gun and told to fire it. Instead of following the police orders, Delos Santos started to run away and that is when policemen shot him.
His last words, according to a witness, were “please stop – please stop – I have a test tomorrow.”
The death of Delos Santos is not the first of its kind. Duterte’s drug war promised to be ruthless and bloody. In his election speech, Duterte promised to kill 100,000 criminals and “dump all of [them] into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.”
However, the death of 17-year-old Kian struck a chord with Filipino ‘netizens’. The killing of Kian Delos Santos may very well signal the start of the collapse of the Duterte Administration, as Filipinos begin to realise that the ones being killed are not criminals or drug pushers, but rather ordinary and innocent citizens. Filipinos are beginning to speak out against the brutal mass killings that are occurring all over the country – all for Duterte’s drug war.
That said, the love and trust many Filipino have for Duterte is not to be underestimated. After all, he won the 2016 election by a landslide of six million votes.
The slogan of Duterte’s presidential campaign was ‘Change is Coming’. A change was what Duterte offered, and Filipinos were ready to welcome that change. Filipinos were tired of the elite political system and Duterte positioned himself as someone who is just like an ordinary Filipino citizen.
Photo Credit: Presidential Communications Operations Office (The Philippine Government)
Now, a year later, Filipinos who were once loyal followers of Duterte are speaking up against the much-loved leader. With an estimated death toll between 7,000 and 13,000, Duterte’s drug war now sees citizens afraid of being executed, not by criminals, but by policemen committed to following Duterte’s order of extrajudicial killings.
James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific states, “Duterte’s violent campaign has not ended crime or solved the problems associated with drugs. What it has done is turn the country into an even more dangerous place, further undermined the rule of law and earned him notoriety as a leader responsible for the death of thousands of his own citizens.”
The presidential win of Duterte echoes the desperate vote of the millions of Filipinos looking for a change.
Right now, Filipinos are learning that change comes with a price. Filipinos are now free of the political elite system that brought nothing but further corruption and economic instability to their country. But with three years left of Duterte’s presidency, just how much did the Filipino voters sacrifice for a change?
Filipinos took a gamble when they voted for Duterte. The crime rate is down by 13 percent compared to previous years, but at what cost? Police Chief, Ronald dela Rosa, has declared that this is due to Duterte’s ordering of the police “to do their worst”.
When Duterte started his presidency, a change was in the air. Now, after thousands of deaths and no prospect of justice and safety, the only thing left in the air is fear.
Marielle Punzal is currently studying media at UNSW. She loves telenovelas, coffee and will always wonder why Hollywood relationships are doomed. Find out more about her here.