NOTES

1. Since 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte established war on drugs to eliminate all the
people who used and sell drugs. As a Filipino who saw how Duterte’s war on drugs became the
reason of killings in our country I can say that this platform is not the platform that we need in
our country so I’m against on how war on drugs propagated.
In stated in the article that was written 4 years ago by Natalie Regoli, there are 6 disadvantages
of war on drugs. First one is Widespread corruption; instead in the corruption , we only focused
to the war on drugs that we forgot the other crimes including the corruption. The second
disadvantage is it provides a smokescreen to hide the real problem behind drug abuse.A
majority of the population that are easily lured into drug dealing are those within and below
the poverty line. People who have no hope of achieving very much because of their
circumstances would resort to drug dealing where knowledge and skills are not required in their
resume. They also see it as a way to make something of themselves, and to have the resources
to fund their own drug habits. Next one is, Increases risk on the lives of policeman and military.
Missions against drug lords is no joke, considering that they too have their own army that has
no care about the lives that will be lost during a shootout or drug bust operation. The safety
risks on the lives of many policemen are also very high. Friends and family of these brave men
and women would be very unhappy if something happened to them. Increase racial tension is
the fourth one. Disparity on sentencing is the fifth disadvantages of war on drugs. Opponents
complain that sentencing in drug-related crimes have major flaws. There is a huge problem in
the sentencing between possessions or trafficking of powder cocaine and crack. For the last
disadvantages of war on drugs,Never-ending chain reaction.One man incarcerated for drug
abuse or drug-related crimes is likely to have children who are growing up without a father.
Statistics show how this can have a bad effect on the little ones. If they are in the same
situation as their father before them, they could end up drug users or sellers as well, whichever
comes first. So the cycle just goes on and on. It will be a never-ending ride of history repeating
itself.
According to Robert Muggah the disadvantages of war on drugs to the country are five which
are; Corruption, Increased racial tension, Hides the real problem behind drug abuse and
distribution, Never-ending cycle, Increases risk for policeman and military, and lastly is disparity
in sentencing. The same people who are assigned to stop the drug trade may be the same
person who used the funds for their own profits and its resulted to corruption. Other country
may think that we are all the same because we are all Filipinos and it resulted to increasing
racial tension. War on drugs also hides the real problem behind drug abuse and distribution.
The majority of people who used and sell drugs are within or below the poverty. When they do
not afford to go to school and well-paying job the simplest and profitable thing to do is to
involve with drugs. It is also a never ending cycle because many people who are behind bars for
drug related charges have children, and some of them were do what their parents do to

2. survive. It increases the risk for policeman and military because some of the addicts are well
armed and it resulted in killings. The last disadvantages of war on drugs is disparity in
sentencing,because people complain that sentencing in drug-related crimes has major flaws. As
well as racially discriminatory as minorities tend to use certain drugs over others and carry a
bigger penalty.
Therefore I conclude that there is a lot of things that we can do to eliminate all the crimes in
our country aside of implementing this war on drug. Some of the innocents are doesn’t deserve
to be punished are affected by this war on drugs.
As stated in the article, entitled “9 Important Pros and Cons of the war on drugs” by Natalie
Regoli also, there are 3 advantages of war on drugs that we can get. Deter or lessen drug-
related crimes.When drug addicts will not have easy access to illegal substances, they will not
experience the highs or hallucinations that will drive them to commit crimes. They wouldn’t
need to steal either so they can buy drugs. Put simply, without the pushers there will be little to
no users. Culprits will be penalized.Included in the policies of war on drugs is the penalty that
will be afforded to manufacturers, distributors and users of illegal drugs. The level of
punishment that will be imposed depends on the gravity of the crime. Knowing that there are
consequences to be paid will make people think twice before embroiling in any stage of the
illegal drug trade.Helps create a place that is drug free.A drug-free area or community may
seem impossible given the present situation, but it is achievable as long as everyone does their
share in the fight against drugs. War on drugs should not only involve the government and local
authorities, but also friends and family of drug users or sellers.
“Overemphasis on a single aspect of the Philippines’ war on drugs – the death toll – clouds
international perceptions of President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature campaign. Less publicised by
the media is the health dimension of the campaign. Five months after commencing the
crackdown, the government opened the country’s biggest drug rehabilitation facility. By the
end of 2018, three more regional rehabilitation centres had been built, with plans to construct
more. Developing and running effective rehabilitation programmes also present opportunities
to work with local and international partners. Nevertheless, official figures suggest that killing is
not the campaign’s key objective. While every life is sacred and every person deserves due
process under the law, the figures demonstrate that the arrest of suspects, rescue of minors
and seizure of drugs are the primary aims of the operations” -Lucio Blanco Pitlo III (2019)
To summarize, if the true intentions of the government is to eliminate all the drug users and
pushers it can be good. It can help us to have a safe country free from crimes.