Asia | Knock-on effects

Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war pushed poor families deeper into penury

The Philippines’ extrajudicial killings have been devastating for the families of victims

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - SEPTEMBER 17: Funeral workers carry a body bag carrying the remains of Jimboy Bolasa, a victim of an alleged vigilante killing five years ago, which was exhumed after the lease on his tomb expired at a public cemetery on September 17, 2021 in Navotas, Metro Manila, Philippines. Relatives witnessed as workers hammered down tombs and pulled out the unrecognizeable remains of their loved ones, who were killed five years ago during President Duterte's bloody war on drugs. The families, too poor to renew the leases on their loved-ones graves, received assistance from a Catholic charity to have the remains cremated instead. President Duterte's government announced that it will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court's probe into his brutal anti-drug campaign, nor allow any investigators into the country. Judges at the ICC announced it was conducting a formal investigation into Duterte's drug war, which human rights groups estimate have claimed the lives of more than 30,000 mostly poor people, by police in controversial anti-drugs operations or by vigilantes allegedly with the backing of the police. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

Jun 14th 2022|MANILA

Reyna was 17 when her boyfriend Gabriel was murdered in front of her. In October 2016 he returned to their home in Bagong Silangan, a crowded slum area in Manila, after a shift working as a rickshaw driver. She said it was a “normal day” until armed men burst in through the front entrance and pushed Gabriel to the ground. They did not identify themselves, but she later learned that they were policemen who accused Gabriel of being a drug dealer (Reyna says he was not; both names have been changed). Hearing the commotion, Gabriel’s 70-year-old father woke from his nap and asked the men what was happening. They shot him. Then they shot Gabriel. Both men died.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Knock-on effects”