The great unhinging The erosion of rule of law in the Philippines ANU Philippines Project August 23, 2018
Three pillars of duterte’s strongman rule Rule of law is fast eroding I Kill, kill, kill: War on drugs II No to dissent and use of law as weapon III Weakened sovereign rights
Duterte’s declaration ‘My adherence to due process and the rule of law is uncompromising.’ Inaugural speech, July 30, 2016
War on drugs: the single biggest threat to the rule of law #RealNumbers: Total of 6,542 killed from July 1,2016 to March 20, 2018 or an average of about 25 per day - 4,075 killed in anti-drug operations mostly by police - 2,467 ‘drug - related’ killings carried out by vigilantes Of these, 1,752 are ‘deaths under investigation’ (DUI); the rest have been solved Source: Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
Duterte’s 2017 key accomplishments: Fighting Illegal Drugs
#RealNumbers: Fighting Illegal Drugs • 3,967 drug personalities who died in anti-drug operations, July 1, 2016 to November 27, 2017 • 16, 355 homicide cases under investigation, July 1, 2016 to September 20, 2017 • Total of 20,322 killings or an average of 39.46 deaths every day. source: The President’s 2017 Key Accomplishments
Supreme Court says: ‘The government’s inclusion of these deaths [homicide cases under investigation] among its other accomplishments may lead to the inference that these are state- sponsored killings.’ Resolution, April 3, 2018
Tidal wave of impunity Surge of non-drug related murders * 23,518 killings from July 2016-June 2018 (source: Philippine National Police) * Average of 33 a day * Does not include killings by cops in police operations * Not all are linked to drugs
Mayor espinosa: Killed in jail
Untouchable: Marvin Marcos
War on loiterers As of July 1018: 78,359 caught in Metro Manila * 48, 420 warned * 21,574 fined * 8, 365 arrested Source: Philippine National Police
War on poor • Justice Antonio Carpio : ‘How come the flagship project of the President is concentrated on going after small-time peddlers? Why not the big- time drug lords?’ • Solicitor General Jose Calida : ‘… the instruction of the President is to go after all of them … However, the big-time Chinese drug lords are outside of our jurisdiction …They are in China.’ Source: Supreme Court Resolution, April 3, 2018, taken from transcript of oral arguments on December 5, 2017
‘Extrajudicial killings and vigilantism are the wrong The big ways to go … Winning the fight against drugs requires question addressing not just crime, but also public health, human rights and economic development.’ - Cesar Gaviria, former president of Colombia, in his op-ed piece in the New York Times, ‘President Duterte Is Repeating My Mistakes’
Duterte’s response to Gaviria ‘IDIOT!’ ‘I’m not stupid. You are.’
Exhibit a Detained since February 2017: Senator Leila de Lima
Exhibit b Maria Lourdes Sereno: ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice
Deported • Giacomo Filibeck, Italian, member of the Party of European Socialists • Sister Patricia Fox, Australian nun living in the Philippines for 28 years • Gill Boehringer, Australian, former law professor
The media squeeze How Duterte weakens the media: 1. Threats against owners and reporters 2. Use of state agencies to squeeze media organizations: BIR, DOJ, SEC, OSG 3. Use of state resources for disinformation
Rappler, inquirer, abs- cbn 1. Rappler – license revoked. But Court of Appeals sided with Rappler. Case is now back with the SEC for review. Also tax evasion and cyber libel cases. 2. Inquirer – P1B tax evasion case against Prietos in other business, Dunkin Donuts; threat to file plunder case. 3. ABS-CBN – threat not to renew franchise which expires 2020 before Duterte’s term ends.
Mocha standard Duterte says: Uson enjoys sacred right to free speech. Independent media peddle fake news.
Overwhelming victory July 2016: Philippines won its maritime case versus China - China’s nine -dash line claim over the South China Sea declared illegal - Philippines’ EEZ clarified, shrinking disputed area. Maritime area is larger than total land area of the country.
Bromance trumps rule of law ‘I need China… I love Xi Jinping. He understands my problem and he is willing to help.’ - President Duterte, April 2018 ‘… I will be dependent on you [China] for a long time.” - President Duterte in Beijing, October 2016
Strongmen’s club
Filipinos for autocratic rule? • 50% of Filipinos favor autocratic rule ‘Unconstrained executive power has its supporters… This type of regime is particularly popular in several nations where executives have extended or consolidated their power in recent years, such as the Philippines, Russia and Turkey.’ (source: 2017 Pew Research Center Survey of 38 countries)
How is the philippines doing, overall? 2017-2018 Rule of Law Index - The ‘biggest mover’ is the Philippines, dropping18 positions to 88 out of 113 countries (from 70 in 2016). - Indicators: constraints on government powers; absence of corruption; open gov’t; fundamental rights; order & security; regulatory enforcement; civil justice; criminal justice.
Race to the bottom Philippines ranks 13 th out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific Region. Source: Rule of Law Index 2017-2018
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