Duterte’s drug war on Time magazine cover

MANILA, Philippines - The Duterte administration’s deadly war on drugs has landed on the cover of the Asia edition of TIME magazine.

“Night falls on the Philippines: The tragic cost of President Duterte’s war on drugs,” read the title of the cover, which featured a body of an alleged drug dealer whose face was fully covered with packing tape.

The article – written by Rishi Iyengar – looked into the scope of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, providing insights from both supporters and critics of the administration.

It also underscored the effects of the campaign, such as the death of over 3,000 people including more than 1,500 in drug-related police operations and overcrowding in jails due to the surrender of more than 700,000 drug personalities.

“The poor in the barangays – as the smallest units of municipal organization in the Philippines are called – pay the highest price,” Iyengar wrote.

“In these impoverished communities, children play beside open sewers, families often share one room, and, for a few people, shabu is an escape – both psychologically and financially,” the writer added.

The article also provided an outline on the effects of the anti-drug campaign on the administration’s foreign relations, citing the recent tussle between Duterte and other international leaders such as US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who both raised concerns about extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

The TIME magazine cover is the latest of pieces released by international publications on Duterte’s war on drugs.

The New York Times earlier released an editorial cartoon depicting Duterte holding a shoulder-launched weapon aimed at a wormy apple on the head of a frightened man.

British newspaper The Guardian also published an editorial comparing Duterte’s anti-drug war to the failed campaign in Thailand in 2003 that resulted in the death of some 2,800 people, half of whom were later found to have no connection to illegal drugs.

“Such drives inevitably claim innocent lives and kill users as well as dealers. But the core objection is simply that no one should die like this. Extrajudicial executions undermine the rule of law. They make a country less safe, not more,” the editorial read.

“The US and others have expressed deep concern, but rights campaigners warn that it is hard to see an end in sight unless the US and EU (European Union) nations make it clear that continuing will result in economic and diplomatic penalties. There is every sign that Mr. Duterte will attempt to play them off against Beijing. They should stand firm,” it added.

Local and international human rights groups have called on Duterte to stop the death of drug personalities, pointing at the possible proliferation of vigilante killings due to the anti-drug war.