or the GAD focal persons jointly with the Children’s Rights focal persons, conducted the
interviews from August to October 2017.
This report is part of a bigger initiative of the CHR-Gender Equality and Women’s Human
Rights Center (GEWHRC)and Child Rights Center, which has the following objectives:
1. Document and monitor cases CHR-investigated cases of women and children directly
affected by the current war on drugs as victims of EJKs or as surrenderees or detainees,
as victims of illegal arrests and/or searches;
2. Document the impact of the war on drugs on women and children, particularly the
impact of EJKs, “tokhang”, illegal arrests and/or searches based on the investigation and
monitoring of CHR regional offices, particularly focusing on how these affected: (a)
women and children’s security and safety; (b) freedom of movement; (c) livelihood and
economic status; (c) health and overall well-being. This shall include positive impacts, if
any, of the war on drugs as perceived by community women and children with direct
first-hand experience;
3. Document challenges and difficulties women and children faced in accessing justice and
in coping after the experiences on the war on drugs including experiences of survival,
detention and of EJKs;
4. If possible, and without compromising the safety and security of women and children,
interrogate into the root causes of their involvement in the war on drugs either as
victims, or as families or companions of persons involved in drugs; and
5. Conduct regional key informant interviews, and if possible capacity building aimed to
empower community women and children on basic human rights, HR protection and
pursuit of remedies.
The report makes no claims of being a rigorous research on women’s experiences of EJK;
the uneven data collected from the field in relation to the research protocol render its
findings unviable for generalization. At best, the report can provide directions in viewing
the War on Drugs from a gendered perspective.
Part I: Review of Related Literature on Gender and the War on Drugs
1. The Philippines War on Drugs: Operation Double Barrel
In 2016, the top two illegal drugs in the Philippines are methamphetamine or shabu
(94.93%), marijuana (5.23%) and other drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, nubain and valium at
0.34% (PDEA, 2016). President Rodrigo Duterte estimated that there are three to four
million Filipino users of illegal drugs. Ending drugs, crime and corruption is one of his
platforms while running for president, and was evident in his first state of the nation address
(SONA) delivered on on July 25, 2016:
Panaghoy: The Philippine War on Drugs from the Perspective of Women
March 2019
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