Limitations

Theoretical and Practical

This section shall discuss the limitations observed and identified during the whole process of this research including the approach on addressing and understanding the issue of EJK specific to War-on-Drugs.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and limited access of the respondents to a stable internet, the interviewers were limited in both data gathering and verification,

primarily due to restrictions in mobility. Despite some in-person interviews, it was not advisable for the researchers to conduct verification sessions due to the rising numbers of infections within the supposed time frame for data verification. More importantly, the researchers did not want to compromise the health of the respondents brought about by unnecessary exposure for the sake of research, taking into consideration that some of the respondents are immuno-compromised and residing with their children as well.

An exception to the physical interviews was one participant, who had to attend two online interview sessions as she was unable to physically move around due to an accident. The usage of online means to conduct interviews poses limitations, as barriers to effective communication were present.

One of the limitations observed from this research was a lack of interview questions specifically for the grieving process of the surviving families. The tool generally discusses the recovery of the EJK surviving families but does not highlight their individual journey of grieving. Moreover, this research was not able to tackle the different kinds of grief that could provide an additional approach to understand the

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experiences of the surviving families, thus the hindering and facilitating factors of grieving were not properly differentiated from that of coping. In addition to this, the general comment on the research tool was the duration to properly answer and fulfill the questions.

Another observed limitation to the gathering of data for the hindering factors to coping and recovery is the fact that no specific questions for these were asked

during the interview sessions. Questions about their struggles and hindering factors to coping and healing were asked in a general context and in open-ended questions. The researchers divided the answers based on the time frame the factors were experienced. The answers have also been classified based on the definition of Grieving, Coping, and Recovery. Most of the participants who have filed cases are not updated about the statuses of the cases hence their answers were limited to having to wait for updates or for the resolutions to be released by the court. Probing deeper into the legal processes undertaken by the respondents during the research interviews was a challenge because of the limited information and knowledge of what they know of their cases.

Financial assistance received and the corresponding frequency were not properly identified during the interviews. There are mainly two challenges in acquiring data about financial assistance. First, there already have been various financial contributions that were given to the participants primarily by either PAGHILOM or Project SOW, their partner networks and by government agencies or officials. Since all incidents have happened at least two years from the time the research has been implemented, respondents do not fully remember the corresponding values of the assistance given the length of time since then, and the varying sources and values of the assistance received. Second, researchers were unable to clarify the specific guidelines in terms of disbursement of financial assistance prior to interviews with the respondents. For example, some would cite that they were given an “allowance” on a monthly basis, while another respondent specified an “allowance” given her during a time of emergency.