From 2016-2022, Filipino activists, human rights groups, and opposition parties protested President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” killing 30,000+ suspected users/dealers (mostly poor), authoritarian crackdowns on press freedom (shuttering ABS-CBN, jailing Maria Ressa), and alleged corruption—though Duterte maintained high approval despite international condemnation.
Duterte’s drug war featured extrajudicial killings by police and vigilantes, with victims overwhelmingly from slums. Human Rights Watch, UN, and ICC documented crimes against humanity, but Duterte defied international pressure, even withdrawing the Philippines from ICC jurisdiction.
Protest movements faced violent suppression: red-tagging activists as communist terrorists, arresting opposition senators (Leila de Lima imprisoned on drug charges critics call fabricated), and deploying police violence against demonstrators. The 2020 Anti-Terror Law expanded government surveillance and detention powers.
Duterte’s popularity remained high (70-80% approval) despite abuses—his tough-guy persona and promises to fight crime, corruption, and elite impunity resonated with many Filipinos tired of oligarchic politics. Opposition struggled to mobilize beyond Manila elites and human rights advocates.
His daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio became vice president in 2022, while Duterte ally Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (dictator’s son) won the presidency—representing continuity rather than change. Duterte’s legacy: normalized violence, weakened democratic institutions, but also infrastructure development and pandemic cash aid that built durable support.
Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch, Rappler, Reuters, Philippine Daily Inquirer