Overview
- Official death tolls cited in coverage range from 6,252 to nearly 8,000, while human-rights groups and documenters estimate up to about 30,000 people were killed.
- Reporting details coordinated night-time hits by police and vigilantes, with witnesses alleging staged scenes and planted firearms to justify shootings.
- Journalist Patricia Evangelista’s Some People Need Killing has renewed international attention to the victims and to the dehumanizing rhetoric used during the drug war.
- Catholic priest Ciriaco “Jun” Santiago, a member of the Resbak collective, continues to document cases and support bereaved families through community initiatives.
- Despite documentation efforts and proceedings in The Hague, Duterte retains pockets of domestic support and his allies continue to wield political influence.