By Amanda Kutch
This 2019 World Press Photo submission by Ezra Acayan shocked the world by its crude representation of blunt violence in the Filipino war on drugs. As this brutal spectacle of violence unfolds, the boundaries between different forms of violence grow less distinctive.
Three years after this photograph was taken, President Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign continues to claim countless victims. Most recent figures from the UN estimate that tens of thousands of people may have been killed since the beginning of his campaign, most of whom were impoverished men from the urban slum communities. The demonization of men with suspected links to drugs has led to the murder of many innocent people. These entrenched forms of physical violence have both fed on and fueled pre-existing forms of social and structural violence against the urban poor.
The banalization of brutality as a driver of structural division
The President’s harsh anti-drug rhetoric, and normalization of a culture of impunity in the police task force has created a trivialization of brutal force resulting from a lack of accountability. Killings are perpetrated both by the police during formal crackdowns and by unknown assailants, creating a widespread climate of spectacularly unrestrained violence.
It has become clear that violence perpetrated by government entities cannot be removed from the socio-structural context in which it occurs. Filipino society is characterized by a deep-set division between classes, as well as a systematic and institutionalized marginalization of the poor. In this case, violence is not only perpetuated on a physical level, but also manifests itself as an amplifier of social division.
Critics have likened the war on drugs to a “war on the poor”, stating that the systematic targeting of urban slums has driven local communities into further poverty. A 2018 study by ATENEO showed that the majority of victims whose occupation was recorded were low-wage or informal workers, and primary breadwinners for the most part. The weaponization of the state monopoly on violence therefore builds on the structural marginalization of urban slums to systematically attack the underbelly of Filipino society and dismantle kinship networks from within.
The process of grief: politics of communal violence
An interesting and often overlooked example of the violent socio-structural repercussions of the war on drugs is the disenfranchisement of grief (Doka 2009) amongst urban slum communities. The legacy of bloodshed in Filipino slums has reverberating consequences on the families of victims and their experience of suffering. Most recent data shows a +70 net satisfaction rating for the government’s anti-narcotics campaign, despite the widespread acknowledgement of gross human rights abuses by 76% of Filipinos. Majority support for the war on drugs, especially amongst urban slum communities, and the implicit acceptance of perpetuated acts of violence, allows more subtle forms of violence to seep into the complex fabric of Filipino culture and the configuration of communal interactions.
In tight-knit urban slum communities with strong informal social linkages, the widespread stigmatization of drug use means grieving families are isolated from collective support networks because the grief associated with their loss is not socially accepted. This form of “disenfranchised grief” (Doka 2009) creates an additional layer of violence wherein government policy causes normally unified social groups to grow fragmented and encourages the emergence of new tensions.
Exploring these forms of suffering through the experience of male relatives of victims, reveals an additional layer of emotional violence in the social response to mourning. Strong cultural attachments to strict notions of masculinity have created a problematic gender gap between male and female family members in how they can express their grief. Men’s suffering is further disenfranchised due to preconceptions on how they should behave – outwards expressions of mourning are perceived as weakness in circumstances where men are expected to remain resilient. President Duterte’s boisterous macho rhetoric also reinforces this gender bias and further secludes poor men who are already at the margins of society by mocking their outwards expressions of grief.
Institutional isolation
Despite the severe psychological toll of the war on drugs on families of the victims, psycho-social support remains scarce. Lack of awareness, stigma, location and financial limitations make institution-based assistance often inaccessible, which intensifies structural inequality and institutional neglect. Families are also reluctant to seek help from government-led institutions for fear of repercussions. Catholic organizations have emerged as a bumper for community support, offering different platforms for families to share their stories. However, as the sole providers of social support, these organizations are increasingly overwhelmed as the number of new cases continues to rise.
A 50% increase in drug war deaths has been documented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, affected populations have received even less support from domestic and international actors because of a shift in priorities, and they find it even more difficult to access psycho-social assistance due to loss of income.
Duterte’s policy has become a source of cross-sectional violence concentrated at the poorest levels of society. Pre-existing structural issues have played into this newly instilled climate of brutality and have contributed to creating complex and interwoven dynamics of violence. As such, the perpetuation of unchecked acts of violence has not only emphasized the social exclusion of marginalized communities but has also created new forms of emotional ostracization by building on integrated cultural specificities of Filipino society.
Bibliography
Atun, J.M.L., Mendoza, R.U., David, C.C., Cossid, R.P.N. and Soriano, C.R.R. (2019). “The Philippines’ antidrug campaign: Spatial and temporal patterns of killings linked to drugs”. International Journal of Drug Policy, 73, 100-111.
Bernstein, R. (2020). The Paradox of Rodrigo Duterte. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-china/606754/.
Doka, K.J. (1999). Disenfranchized grief. Bereavement Care, 18(3), 37-39.
Human Rights Council Report. (2020). Situation of human rights in the Philippines. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/PH/Philippines-HRC44-AEV.pdf
Human Rights Watch. (2017). Philippines: Duterte’s First Year a Human Rights Calamity. [online] Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/28/philippines-dutertes-first-year-human-rights-calamity.
Human Rights Watch. (2020). Another Spike in Philippines’ ‘Drug War’ Deaths. [online] Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/28/another-spike-philippines-drug-war-deaths.
Pulitzer Center. (2018). Alone in the Aftermath: Families of Slain Drug Suspects Struggle with Little Support. [online] Available at: https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/alone-aftermath-families-slain-drug-suspects-struggle-little-support.
Rikard Jalkebro (2018). Philippines’ ongoing war on drugs shatters hopes of peace for a generation. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/philippines-ongoing-war-on-drugs-shatters-hopes-of-peace-for-a-generation-80248.
Santos, A.P. (2018). Duterte’s Kiss and the Philippines “Machismo Populism.” [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/duterte-kiss-philippines/562265/.
Social Weather Stations. (n.d.). Social Weather Stations | Fourth Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey: 76% of Filipinos see many human rights abuses in the administration’s war on illegal drugs, 24% see few. [online] Available at: https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20200112221436.
Social Weather Stations. (n.d.). Social Weather Stations | Second Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey: Net satisfaction with anti-illegal drugs campaign at “Excellent” +70. [online] Available at: https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20190922154614.
Comments
Post a Comment