Individual Paper
8. Negotiating Margins: Representations, Resistances, Agencies
Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency in the Philippines (2016-2022) resulted in massive human rights violations, most especially because of extra-judicial killings in his “war on drugs” (WOD). Human rights groups note that there could be as many as 27,000 killed in police and vigilante operations. In response to these massive violations, various societal groups in the Philippines have mobilised to stop the abuses and seek justice for victims and survivors of the WOD. What was the nature of human rights mobilisations (HRMs) carried out by coalitions to curb abuses related to the WOD? What explains the continuity of state abuses during the time of Duterte despite multi-sectoral mobilisations? This paper uses a social conflict approach to examine the strategies, interests, and alliances of elite, civil society, and sub-altern groups against the WOD during the time of Duterte. On the first question, data show that HRMs revolved around political, legal, and social mobilisations. Political mobilisations involved traditional form of protests, while legal mobilisations focused on seeking justice on behalf of victims through domestic and international mechanisms. Social mobilisations focused on conducting rehabilitative programs for WOD victims. On the second question, this paper argues that HRMs against the WOD failed to stop government abuses because (i) there were no overarching human rights coalitions created, and (ii) mobilizing organisations lacked support from politico-economic elites. These findings provide practical recommendations to future human rights coalitions on what strategies they need to adapt to successfully contest human rights abuses in the Philippines.
David C. Lozada
The University of Melbourne, Australia