An Examination of Rodrigo Duterte's Rhetoric on the War on Drugs in the Philippines: The Apocalyptic Narration

Abstract

Rodrigo Duterte introduced a harsh anti-drug campaign based on hunting down drug users and distributors to eliminate the persistent drug problem in the Philippines. The campaign led to extrajudicial killings of drug users and distributors in the country without resorting to legal routes to justice. The justification was that the targets were extremely dangerous to the survival of the country. Thus, this research will explore how Duterte securitized drug users and distributors and legitimized the extrajudicial killings under the War on Drugs in the Philippines. It examines Duterte’s speeches from 2016 and 2017 to understand how Duterte framed the situation through narratives to legitimize the EJK. This research adopts the Securitization Framework to discuss the threat construction and legitimization process. Concurrently, it uses the concept of apocalyptic narration by Philip Smith. This research examines: the polarization of ‘good and evil’ and the exaggeration of the extend of the threat to construct an existential threat; and the presentation of Duterte himself as a ‘hero’ and ‘strong leader’ introducing a ‘miraculous’ solution to the drug problem. I argue that these narratives create an apocalyptic narration of events, securitizing the drug users and distributors, and legitimizing the extrajudicial killings. This research will explore the societal and cultural contextual elements constructing the narratives in Duterte’s discourses to induce fear and anxiety and inspire hope, thereby legitimizing the extrajudicial killings.