War against Drugs: Pearl of the Orient (Philippines) vs Land of enchantment (Mexico)

INTRODUCTION
The Philippines is an island nation in the western Pacific Ocean and part of
Southeast Asia. More than 7,000 islands and islets make up this archipelago, which is located
around 800 kilometers (500 miles) off the coast of Vietnam. Mexico is the third-largest
nation in Latin America after Brazil and Argentina. It is located in southern North America.
Extremes of wealth and poverty characterize Mexican society, with a small middle class
sandwiched between an elite group of landowners and investors on the one hand and large
populations of rural and urban poor on the other. The Philippines and Mexico have
similarities and differences in the war against drugs. The war on drugs in these countries
becomes bloody. Many people have been killed. Also, both countries have Large-scale
extrajudicial violence. The difference between these two countries on the war against drugs is
that the drug war has only been ongoing in the Philippines for six years, compared to 16 years
in Mexico. The big fish, not the street traders, are what the Mexican government is after.
While in the Philippines, it appears that the police are encouraged to behave brutally they like
with every instance of abuse of power. While in Mexico, the reasons for execution have less
to do with money and more to do with being in the wrong place at the wrong time or breaking
prior agreements, the persons who are being targeted in the Philippines appear to be living
below the poverty level. For me, Mexico has better Culture of resilience in the war against
drugs than the Philippines.

BODY (CONTENT)
Philippines Similarities Mexico
(differences) (differences)

Ramos, G.& Peel, M. Enciso, F. & Perez, B

Maretti, A. (2018) (Source:TRT world and agencies)

Lopez, E. (2021)
Tawatao, D. (2017)
Schemidt, R. (2010
Since President Rodrigo Duterte declared his "war on drugs" on June 30, 2016, the day he
took office, thousands of people have died in the Philippines. Among those who died were
dozens of children under 18, who were either specifically targeted or accidentally shot during
anti-drug raids, which authorities have called "collateral damage." In 2019 and 2020, more
child fatalities were reported in the media. According to official data from the Philippine
National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, as of January 31, 2020, 5,601
people had died as a result of the "drug war." In almost every instance, the subject resisted
arrest and fought back; as a result, police claimed they killed a drug vendor or user during a
raid. More than 27,000 people, according to the national commission on human rights and
domestic human rights organizations, have allegedly been killed by police, police officers, or
unidentified assailants. Because they hold the police and other government employees
accountable for their losses, families have been hesitant to ask the government for assistance.
As a result, the only programs available to the children and their families are those funded by
civic and nongovernmental organizations, primarily those affiliated with the Roman Catholic
Church and a few Protestant and ecumenical organizations. Parish priests and lay volunteers
have been spearheading the effort to assist in some communities where violence is prevalent
by offering psycho-social (mental health) support, financial aid, support for children to attend
school, and assistance in finding and supporting livelihoods for afflicted families. These
voluntary efforts, however, have been overtaken and fall short of meeting the needs of the
impacted children as the deaths continue.

During the war against drugs in these two countries, many were killed and many
innocent people were involved. In the Philippines, over 12,000 Filipinos died during the war
against drugs. The war against drugs in the Philippines becomes bloody. Losing a parent who
is the primary provider of income might drive an already poor family into even deeper
poverty. Many kids are forced to work, and some of them wind up homeless and living on the
streets, where they are further exposed to risk, violence, and criminal activity. These also
happened in Mexico. On January 11 the Mexican Government, 12, that 903 people were
killed in the past 11 months. Many Drug dealers and users were killed and many innocent
Mexicans were involved in this war against drugs. During the war against drugs in these two
countries, many people were against it because of extrajudicial killing, anti-human rights and
many casualties happened but the governments of both countries continue the war against
drugs.

Since December 2006, the Mexican government has been at war with drug traffickers.
Drug cartels have engaged in conflict for control of territory at the same time. For more than
ten years, Mexican authorities have fought a brutal war against drug cartels, but their efforts
have largely failed. Every year, the violence claims the lives of thousands of Mexicans,
including journalists, students, and politicians. Since the government declared war on the
cartels in 2006, there have been more than 300,000 homicides throughout the nation.
Compared to the Philippines, Mexico has many numbers of deaths during the war against
drugs. But, in Mexico, they targeted the big drug dealers than the street traders. When
President Calderón assumed office in 2006, he inherited a nation where cartels were
becoming more powerful and whose security forces both military and civilian had a lengthy
history of being cruel and inept when it came to carrying out this vital role. Calderón decided
to use Mexico's weak law enforcement organizations to wage "war" on the country's
increasingly potent criminal organizations rather than taking the necessary steps to strengthen
and reform them. His public security strategy, which was mostly centered on using force to
tackle the cartels, made the military the focal point. Even as civilian oversight of military
operations has decreased, these soldiers have taken on many of the duties of both police and
prosecutors in the areas where they are stationed, including neighborhood patrols, responding
to shootouts, investigating individual crimes, and gathering information on criminal
organizations. Thousands of personnel from the recently reformed Federal Police and more
than 2,200 different state and local police forces have joined the Armed Forces in their
efforts, however, a collaboration between various security forces is frequently minimal or
superficial.

CONCLUSION
The Culture of the resilience of these two countries in the war against drugs affects the
human rights of all people in this world. Many people were killed during the war against
drugs including those innocent people and children. Nowadays, people don’t trust the
government because of its system of justice. They only labeled those innocent people as
casualties of the war against drugs. They didn’t think about the families of the victims. I
understand those people who hate the government. I’m against in war against drugs. I
understand the governments want, to stop the continuous spreading of drugs but their ways to
stop the continuous spreading of drugs are against the human rights of people. This happens
all over the world not only in the Philippines and Mexico. Many people have been affected
by this war against drugs. I know there is a way to stop the continuous spreading of drugs
without affecting or being against the human rights of all people in this world.

REFERENCES:

Conde, C. (2016, June 30). Philippines’ ‘War on Drugs.’ Human Rights Watch. Retrieved
August 26, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/tag/philippines-war-drugs
CNN. (2022, March 20). Mexico Drug War Fast Facts. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/americas/mexico-drug-war-fast-facts/index.html
Dalena, K. (2020, May 27). Our Happy Family Is Gone. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved
August 26, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/05/27/our-happy-family-
gone/impact-war-drugs-children-philippines
Maroonian, A. (2022). Mexico, The “War on Drugs.” How Does Law Protect in War.
Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://casebook.icrc.org/cse-study/mexico-war drugs