The unrestrained movement, war on drugs, has perpetuated threat and peril among Filipinos. Over the past 3 ½ years, the campaign had led to various extrajudicial killings and atrocious violations of human rights, many of which victims belong under the marginalized.

 

The campaign has aimed to dramatically decrease the abuse of drugs in the Philippines within a span of three months. The slums and streets of the country, as stated by President Duterte, are now safer spaces to walk past onto due to his tactics. However, such a campaign will not reach its objective if abuse of military power is perpetuated and if particular laws favor merely the elitists.

 

Only the privileged ones are capable of undergoing the due process of law, a legal process wherein one is given the chance to prove himself not guilty in the eyes of the law by means of hiring professionals, particularly lawyers and investigators. The marginalized barely has access to public lawyers, as they are also limited in the country. Such an anti-poor campaign reflects the current administration’s objective of the classist approach, considering that almost every victim does not attain the privilege to defend themselves in the court. It perpetuates injustice and voices that are long yet to be heard; worse, not heard at all.

 

The issue of drug abuse is not just an issue of drugs alone, but poverty. It is also due to poverty that the marginalized is tempted to abuse the usage of drugs, as such act as a hunger-suppressant. It alleviates their hunger in quite a period of time. Hence, criminality is deeply-rooted within the walls of poverty, for people under the marginalized sector are tempted with the choice of not abiding the law- for the sake of survival.

 

Deciding to turn a blind eye to the different lenses of war on drugs proves that one is already comfortable enough in their seats to be unbothered of the injustice and extrajudicial killings in the country caused by abuse of power. The current administration has to consider that drug abuse is also a class issue.

The victims of such are most perpetuated in Manila’s poverty-stricken neighborhoods as they are more exposed to drug abuse than the privileged; drugs alleviate hunger thus keeping the famished sane for a period of time. Hence, the current administration must first aim to eradicate poverty in the country before diving into another issue that is caused by such.

 

Providing decent jobs for the marginalized, regularizing workers, providing actual free education; as it must primarily be free in the country, focusing on economic growth, and implementing the campaign but without the abuse of power will aid in dramatically decreasing the abuse of drugs- the primary goal of war on drugs.

The war on drugs up to date is still a long-overdue debate in the country. Even before President Duterte had decided to run for the presidency, his mere objective has always been eradicating drug abuse. However, he must foresee the issue through different lenses, that is, drug abuse is not just caused by the abuse of drugs alone; rather, it is because of the deeply-rooted poverty that causes people to commit crimes in the name of survival.