The 1987 Philippine constitution guaranteed its citizens with numerous rights for the

accused. I would be discussing only few of them. The elementary provision states that,
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor
shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws. (Section 1, Article 3 Bill of
Rights)
This provision is divided into two rights the due process clause and the equal protection clause.
Due process pertains to two categories, the substantive due process is about the intrinsic validity
of the law in interfering with the rights of the person to life, liberty or property; and procedural
due process means the manner on how the persons rights are opposed, one which hears before it
condemns. Another is Article 3 of the 1987 Constitution, Section 12.
(1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right
to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel
preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must
be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence
of counsel.
(2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the
free will shall be used against him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or
other similar forms of detention are prohibited.
(3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be
inadmissible in evidence against him.
 (4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as well
as compensation to the rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their
families.
This provision is also known as the custodial investigation clause and also closely connected to
the popular Miranda Rights. Basically, it guarantees every person accused of criminal act with the
right to remain silent, be given a counsel and to be treated humanely and in a non-discriminatory
manner.
A new chapter of Philippine government has emerged this 2016 due to the change of
administration brought by the 2016 election. The new president of the Republic of the Philippines
started a battle against Drug War. In his State of the nation address, the president said that three
years ago, there are three million drug addicts based on the date provided by the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA); but now it has dramatically increased to 3.7 million. We will not
stop until the last drug lord and the last pusher have surrendered or are put either behind bars
or below the ground, if they so wish, said President Duterte. Since the inauguration of President
Rodrigo Duterte on June 30, 2016, and his call for a war on drugs, Philippine National Police
officers and unidentified vigilantes have killed over 7,000 people according to the data released,
that is approximately 141 people a week or on average of 20 people a day.
To uphold and stress the provisions of Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act Of 2002,
President Rodrigo Duterte expressly uttered the below exact words in his State of the Nation
Address which happened after he was proclaimed as the new president of the Republic of the
Philippines:
During my inauguration last 30 [June] 2016, I said that the fight against criminality and
illegal drugs and corruption will be relentless and sustained. I reiterate that commitment
today. And that is why I call on the Philippine National Police, the barangay chairmen, the
Mayors, and Governors and all those occupying seats of power and authority, not to lower
their guard. There will be no let-up in this campaign. Double your efforts. Triple them, if
need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher
have surrendered or put behind bars [applause] or below the ground, if they so wish.
Clearly, the battle is on. The War on Drugs has impliedly commenced on the day we chose
him to be the head of the country in a landslide vote in May 2016. Unquestionably, every Filipino
can never repudiate that they wanted this war to succeed due to the need of security and the shared
common want to suppress criminality rooted from the belief that illegal drugs is the cause of most
crimes. If drug issues has been completely addressed, and so its effects total annihilation of
crimes in the country.
Augusto M. Marquez, Jr., the Police Chief Superintendent issued and disseminated a letter
regarding the Additional Policies and Guidelines in the Conduct of PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs
Campaign Plan: Double Barrel ordering the whole PNP to concentrate in the fight against illegal
drugs through Project Tokhang (Low Barrel Appproach) and Project HVT (Upper Barrel
Approach). It aims to reiterate how the investigative units can perform their responsibilities in case
of armed confrontation during the implementation of the said campaign. Most importantly, the
goal of this project is to eradicate illegal drugs during the first six months of President Dutertes
term.
Inevitably, as the war on drugs continue, it is evident that rights of the people who were
accused of being connected with illegal distribution and use of drugs are at stake. Due to the
unrestricted duty vested by the president to the authorities through an aggressive, even violent,
crackdown on the market as means of dealing such illegal drug cases, inhumane treatment, undue
process and extrajudicial killings ascend. Reports conveyed that the Philippines has
underprivileged human rights due to its disturbing incidents of extrajudicial killings unexplained
disappearances or abductions of private individuals without anyone being held accountable in the
eyes of the international community. Due to this, according to the Commission on Human Rights
(CHR), the International Criminal Court (ICC) might assume jurisdiction over these vigilante
killings. Furthermore, it was believed that the main issue here is the implementation of the laws
because of the aggressive action made by the authorities, which eventually resulted to violation of
human rights.
Jose Manuel Diokno, one of the nation's top human rights lawyers stated that the president
has "spawned a nuclear explosion of violence that is spiraling out of control and creating a nation
without judges". He also noted that the President has created a bandwagon of hate. According
to him, the war the president started encourages the taking of lives. When the gun and not the law
dispenses justice, Diokno also stressed that, the country might as well disband courts, dissolve the
Department of Justice and abolish Congress.
Undoubtedly, it is quite difficult to ascertain nowadays that justice is done. There are
people and some legal authorities who use guns instead of justice to judge and castigate those
people who are engaged with illegal drugs cases. It may be understood that the reason behind this
hostile ways of wiping out the same is to prevent further harm and evil caused by drug intoxication.
However, the humane treatment to people per se should not be set aside. The constitution explicitly
prohibits the unusual, degrading and excessive punishment to be imposed upon the convicts, what
more to those just accused. It may be true that they deserve punishment for destructing the security
of the state and causing threat and danger to its inhabitants, nevertheless, as a citizen vested with
rights, they are still entitled the right to due process and proper execution of penalties that are due
to them, if found guilty. There is no harm to aim for a drugfree state as earlier as possible. In fact,
it is what every Filipino is hoping for. However, the violent way to clean the state may bring a
drugfree state but also result to inducement of fear that every person may be accused and be killed
instantly without the proof of guilt. The state may be free from drugs but it is no longer free from
killers. The administration and implementation of the campaign against drugs convey confidence
to people to take hold of justice instead of the proper authority.