Duterte wishes to implement a police state. Interestingly a
War on Drugs is a vehicle he is employing to bring this about. Under the
pretense of cleaning up society, he's actually subjugating it and expanding his
power.
The War on Drugs in the Philippines and the USA is largely a
farce. Socially it has failed and the magnitude of the failure cannot be
overstated. However it has filled the coffers of bureaucracies and empowered
the state.
Duterte is different in his employment of thugs and
paramilitaries. That day is coming here. We're not quite there but it won't be
long before privatised police and community leaders employ the same.
The Drug War is phony in this country. It is an attempt at management,
not a genuine war of eradication. It is a moneymaker but when rival powers
begin to seriously challenge local government and police authority and the
paralysed Federal Government is unwilling or unable to intercede, you can count
on local powers turning to extra-legal means. I believe a case can be made that
is already happening in some locales.
The US wishes to keep the Philippines on board with the 'Pivot
to Asia'. The US wants to keep Manila in its sphere and wants access to
resources and the staging of bases. If that means a police state for the
Philippines in order to effect this reality the US is happy to fund it. A phony
war on drugs and counter-terrorism in the end does little more than terrorise
the local population and keeps it in line. The US has a long record of funding
death squads and in many cases arming and training them.
The Philippines drove the US out in the late 1980s and 1990s
but it would seem Washington has found a way back in and has returned to its
old tricks.
The hypocrisy cannot be overstated. While Washington decries
human rights violations when it's in its interest to do so, in the Philippines
the US is happy to fund repression and state violence. Figures like Erdogan, Maduro,
Putin and others know this and thus hold the US and especially figures like
John Kerry in contempt.
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