RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

RESIST. IDEALS responds to the increasing human rights violations in hotspot communities through rights education, legal missions, and inclusive documentation and handling of cases. All of these are done through strong partnerships with churches, legal groups, and other human rights advocates. After conducting the demographic analysis, a much clearer picture of the campaign against illegal drugs is brought to light – one that is markedly different from that portrayed by the current administration.

According to empirical data, an overwhelming majority of the victims were minimum wage earners residing in urban poor communities, indicating that there is a strong connection between one’s income classification and being a casualty of this campaign. The evils brought about by the human rights violations of state perpetrators are pervasive and indiscriminate in its effects. Taken at face value, it is apparent from the data that the victims are predominantly males between 25 to 44 years old. But both senior citizens and minors have also been unjustly stripped of their life and liberty, showing the indiscriminate nature of

these abuses. Further, most of these victims have wives and children. The difficulty of losing a source of income compounds the already harsh reality of these families who are left behind. Through the deprivation of the victim’s rights, the rights of their families to food, health, and support are also violated.

The discrepancy between the claims of the victim’s family and the witnesses to the incident and those of state agents was expected. The victim’s association to illegal drugs, the validity of the police operation conducted, and the existence of a valid warrant are just some of the contentions encountered. Though the truth of what actually happened is yet to be determined, the fact remains that the claims of the government are being contested by those who have lost their loved ones despite the fear of experiencing the same brutality themselves. The government has defended the killings by claiming that in these cases, the victims resisted arrest or were armed. But this claim of selfdefense is belied by the stories of the victim’s family and other witnesses. This nanlaban narrative has also been used in less than 25% of the killings documented in this study, further evincing the culture of violence and impunity brought on and propagated by the campaign against illegal drugs. With almost half of these killings and arrests having related violations such as the planting of evidence and taking of property, the current administration’s appalling disregard for the sanctity of human rights is all too clear.

The insufficient and sometimes absolute lack of investigations done by

“ The victim’s families are left to fend for themselves with their loss and fear, with no information as to any action authorities have taken regarding their case.

authorities in these cases is also telling. The victim’s families are left to fend for themselves with their loss and fear, with no information as to any action authorities have taken regarding their case.

Through the documentation of these cases, the atrocities committed and condoned by this administration shall not be forgotten. Regardless of whether the victims were indeed linked to illegal drugs or not, they are human beings with rights enshrined in our Constitution. In this study, the interviews were able to shed light on who are the actual casualties of this campaign. The information provided by the victim’s families is one step forward in stopping the abuses and holding the real criminals accountable.