War On Drugs In Philippines: For And Against

Since 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte established war on drugs to eliminate all the people
who used and sell drugs. As a Filipino who saw how Duterte’s war on drugs became the reason of
killings in our country I can say that this platform is not the platform that we need in our country so I’m
against on how war on drugs propagated.

In stated in the article that was written 4 years ago by Natalie Regoli, there are 6 disadvantages of war
on drugs. First one is Widespread corruption; instead in the corruption , we only focused to the war on
drugs that we forgot the other crimes including the corruption. The second disadvantage is it provides
a smokescreen to hide the real problem behind drug abuse.A majority of the population that are easily
lured into drug dealing are those within and below the poverty line. People who have no hope of
achieving very much because of their circumstances would resort to drug dealing where knowledge
and skills are not required in their resume. They also see it as a way to make something of
themselves, and to have the resources to fund their own drug habits. Next one is, Increases risk on
the lives of policeman and military. Missions against drug lords is no joke, considering that they too
have their own army that has no care about the lives that will be lost during a shootout or drug bust
operation. The safety risks on the lives of many policemen are also very high. Friends and family of
these brave men and women would be very unhappy if something happened to them. Increase racial
tension is the fourth one. Disparity on sentencing is the fifth disadvantages of war on drugs.
Opponents complain that sentencing in drug-related crimes have major flaws. There is a huge
problem in the sentencing between possessions or trafficking of powder cocaine and crack. For the
last disadvantages of war on drugs,Never-ending chain reaction.One man incarcerated for drug abuse
or drug-related crimes is likely to have children who are growing up without a father. Statistics show
how this can have a bad effect on the little ones. If they are in the same situation as their father before
them, they could end up drug users or sellers as well, whichever comes first. So the cycle just goes on
and on. It will be a never-ending ride of history repeating itself.

According to Robert Muggah the disadvantages of war on drugs to the country are five which are;
Corruption, Increased racial tension, Hides the real problem behind drug abuse and distribution,
Never-ending cycle, Increases risk for policeman and military, and lastly is disparity in sentencing. The
same people who are assigned to stop the drug trade may be the same person who used the funds for
their own profits and its resulted to corruption. Other country may think that we are all the same
because we are all Filipinos and it resulted to increasing racial tension. War on drugs also hides the
real problem behind drug abuse and distribution. The majority of people who used and sell drugs are
within or below the poverty. When they do not afford to go to school and well-paying job the simplest
and profitable thing to do is to involve with drugs. It is also a never ending cycle because many people
who are behind bars for drug related charges have children, and some of them were do what their
parents do to survive. It increases the risk for policeman and military because some of the addicts are
well armed and it resulted in killings. The last disadvantages of war on drugs is disparity in
sentencing,because people complain that sentencing in drug-related crimes has major flaws. As well
as racially discriminatory as minorities tend to use certain drugs over others and carry a bigger
penalty.

Therefore I conclude that there is a lot of things that we can do to eliminate all the crimes in our
country aside of implementing this war on drug. Some of the innocents are doesn’t deserve to be
punished are affected by this war on drugs.

As stated in the article, entitled “9 Important Pros and Cons of the war on drugs” by Natalie Regoli
also, there are 3 advantages of war on drugs that we can get. Deter or lessen drug-related
crimes.When drug addicts will not have easy access to illegal substances, they will not experience the
highs or hallucinations that will drive them to commit crimes. They wouldn’t need to steal either so they
can buy drugs. Put simply, without the pushers there will be little to no users. Culprits will be
penalized.Included in the policies of war on drugs is the penalty that will be afforded to manufacturers,
distributors and users of illegal drugs. The level of punishment that will be imposed depends on the
gravity of the crime. Knowing that there are consequences to be paid will make people think twice
before embroiling in any stage of the illegal drug trade.Helps create a place that is drug free.A drug-
free area or community may seem impossible given the present situation, but it is achievable as long
as everyone does their share in the fight against drugs. War on drugs should not only involve the
government and local authorities, but also friends and family of drug users or sellers.

“Overemphasis on a single aspect of the Philippines’ war on drugs – the death toll – clouds
international perceptions of President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature campaign. Less publicised by the
media is the health dimension of the campaign. Five months after commencing the crackdown, the
government opened the country’s biggest drug rehabilitation facility. By the end of 2018, three more
regional rehabilitation centres had been built, with plans to construct more. Developing and running
effective rehabilitation programmes also present opportunities to work with local and international
partners. Nevertheless, official figures suggest that killing is not the campaign’s key objective. While
every life is sacred and every person deserves due process under the law, the figures demonstrate
that the arrest of suspects, rescue of minors and seizure of drugs are the primary aims of the
operations” -Lucio Blanco Pitlo III (2019)

To summarize, if the true intentions of the government is to eliminate all the drug users and pushers it
can be good. It can help us to have a safe country free from crimes.

References
1. Natalie Regoli, (September 23, 2015) 9 Important Pros and cons of the War on drugs.
https://connectusfund.org/9-important-pros-and-cons-of-the-war-on-drugs
2. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III (February 22, 2019) The other side of Duterte’s war on drugs: rehabilitation,
rescue and rooting out corruption
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/comment/insight-
opinion/asia/article/2187144/other-side-dutertes-war-drugs-rehabilitation-rescue-and
3. Robert Muggah (March 7, 2017) The War on Drugs: Pros & Cons.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.recoveryways.com/blog/war-on-drugs-pros-
cons%3fhs_amp=true