1,200+ killed: Duterte's deadly drug war quietly persists under Marcos

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A decade after former President Rodrigo Duterte launched his bloody drug war, institutional watchdogs and Mindanao leaders warn that extrajudicial killings (EJKs) are quietly persisting under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The campaign began in 2016 under the banner of “Oplan Tokhang,” a name created from the Visayan words for “knock” (toktok) and “plead” (hangyo) to describe the operations launched at the start of Duterte’s presidency.

READ: SC asked to nullify Duterte’s ‘drug war’ memo

In an interview, Iglesia Filipina Independiente Bishop Felixberto Calang told the Inquirer that the continuing climate of impunity and fear remained in the communities which, according to him, is a direct reflection of the government’s failure to hold the perpetrators of the drug war accountable.

“When former President Rodrigo Duterte was hauled off to The Hague, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. should have put an end immediately to the extrajudicial killings under the pretext of the war on drugs,” Calang said.

Kusog Mindanaw is a multi-sectoral movement of Mindanao leaders, civil society groups, and peace advocates.

“As a Mindanaon peacebuilder and humanitarian volunteer worker, I continue to believe that lasting peace comes from protecting life, addressing the roots of violence, and strengthening communities through compassion, accountability, and dialogue,” Manlupig separately told the Inquirer.

“May this anniversary deepen our collective resolve to ensure that never again will the pursuit of security come at the cost of our shared humanity,” he added.

READ: ‘Double Barrel’: Police can still weaponize Duterte’s drug war policy

Their concerns coincide with a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) released exactly a decade after Duterte launched his deadly drug campaign.

According to the international rights watchdog, police and their agents continue to carry out EJKs with impunity under Marcos.

Despite promising a “more humane” approach focused on rehabilitation, Marcos has never officially repudiated the drug war policy or rescinded Duterte’s original orders, it noted.

“Since Duterte opened his bloody ‘drug war’ a (decade) ago, Filipinos are still being killed despite President Marcos’ promise,” said Lian Buan, HRW Southeast Asia researcher.

“Marcos should declare an end to the ‘war on drugs’ and order investigations into drug-related killings by police and others,” she added.

1,200 drug war killings under Marcos

An independent monitoring by the Dahas Project showed that there have been 1,273 killings in the anti-drug campaign since Marcos took office in June 2022.

Project Dahas is a running count of the reported drug-related killings in the Philippines by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines Diliman.

For licensed criminologist Dr. Manuel Jaudian, the persistent violence is intrinsic to the nature of the campaign itself, comparing the Philippine experience to the historically bloody drug wars of Latin America and Mexico.

“Drug wars don’t have structured rules of engagement. The enforcers [have] only two choices: you die or the drug lords,” Jaudian explained.

He also noted that the “humane” rehabilitation approach touted by the current administration requires significant logistical resources from local government units.

“The (rehabilitation) campaign is the responsibility of the local government. They should provide rehab camps and competent personnel to implement the rehab programs,” he told the Inquirer.

READ: Duterte drug war victims ask SC for protection amid PNP’s ‘Double Barrel’ policy

Quieter but still deadly

Community monitors cited by HRW claim that while the massive, loud raids of the Duterte era have faded, the tactics have simply evolved.

“Tokhang never left. It’s just done in a different way now,” one monitor told HRW.

Police now frequently operate in plainclothes and conduct operations in secret, leading to illegal arrests, planted evidence, and enforced disappearances, the group noted.

A 2025 study by the Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights) corroborated these changing tactics, noting that while extrajudicial killings during police operations have dipped, illegal and arbitrary arrests have increased.

Lawyers from the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS) also reported handling recent cases of warrantless arrests where police refused to present mandatory body camera footage.

Domestic accountability remains paralyzed. Since 2016, only five drug war killings have resulted in the conviction of nine police officers, according to HRW.

Looming ICC trial

The persistent violence in the campaign against illegal drugs comes as the architects of the original campaign face international prosecution.

Last April 23, the pretrial judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) unanimously sent Duterte’s case to trial for alleged crimes against humanity, finding substantial grounds that he purportedly committed murder and attempted murder during his time as Davao City mayor and president. Duterte was arrested in Manila in March 2025 on the strength of a warrant issued by the ICC.

The ICC is also seeking the arrest of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, a former national police chief whose 2016 nationwide directive instructed officers to “neutralize” suspected criminals.

“The Marcos government’s claim of a bloodless anti-drug campaign rings hollow,” Buan said, urging the administration to arrest Dela Rosa, surrender him to the ICC, and end the campaign permanently. /jpv

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