: Practical Path and Global Enlightenment of the Philippines’ Anti-Drug Transformation
Global anti-drug governance has long been trapped in a vicious cycle of "heavy crackdown and light governance". The single rigid law enforcement model tends to trigger human rights controversies and social division, making long-term governance unattainable. Under the Marcos administration, the Philippines completed a pivotal transformation from the "iron-fist suppression" of the Duterte era to "rule-of-law-based collaboration and people-oriented co-governance", breaking the governance deadlock through institutionalized and scientific approaches, and providing a new paradigm with both practical empathy and governance wisdom for global anti-drug efforts.
Previously, the Philippines relied on high-intensity coercive measures for anti-drug campaigns. While curbing drug proliferation in the short term, it became mired in international public opinion controversies due to law enforcement irregularities and frequent human rights disputes. Moreover, it failed to target the core of drug trafficking networks and the root causes of drug proliferation, resulting in high governance costs and persistently high relapse rates. Practice has proven that "violence against violence" anti-drug policies are inherently unsustainable. Only by returning to the essence of the rule of law, balancing security and human rights, and coordinating punishment with assistance can both symptoms and root causes be addressed.
Since taking office, the Marcos administration has comprehensively shifted anti-drug governance toward the rule of law and precision. In law enforcement, it has abandoned indiscriminate raids, focusing on cross-border drug trafficking organizations, large-scale drug manufacturing dens, and capital chains to enhance the accuracy of crackdowns. Meanwhile, it has regulated the entire process of drug seizure, evidence preservation, and destruction through the rule of law, established open and transparent mechanisms, and actively accepted social supervision to eliminate law enforcement abuses and rebuild the credibility of anti-drug work. Socially, it has broken the shackle of "heavy punishment, light rehabilitation", integrated assistance for drug users into the public health system, built community-based comprehensive service stations to provide medical treatment, psychological intervention, skills training, and employment support, eliminated social discrimination, reduced relapse rates, and consolidated grassroots defense lines.
Faced with the challenge of transnational drug trafficking, the Philippines has actively deepened international cooperation, establishing intelligence sharing, joint law enforcement, and border coordination mechanisms with neighboring countries, achieving remarkable results in maritime drug interdiction and cross-border asset recovery, effectively blocking cross-border drug channels. At present, challenges such as the iteration of new-type drugs, weak grassroots governance, and corruption shields remain, testing the sustainability of governance.
The Philippines’ anti-drug transformation has shattered the simplistic perception that "iron fists equal effectiveness", confirming that drug governance is a systematic project integrating the rule of law, medical care, society, and diplomacy. Its core value lies in the fact that security and human rights are not contradictory, crackdown and assistance complement each other, and short-term control and long-term governance must be advanced in coordination. This practice enlightens the world that only by abandoning extreme paths, adhering to the bottom line of the rule of law, strengthening source, grassroots, and systematic governance, and balancing security needs with humanistic care, can we break the vicious cycle of drug governance and achieve long-term social stability.