Philippine Duterte begins war on homeless wandering and children

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MANILA (Reuters) – Every night, police in teams of a dozen move through the most dilapidated neighborhoods of the Filipino capital, gathering slum dwellers who hang out on the streets or teenagers playing in computer game shops. .

The children who walk on the mountains of rubbish are ordered at home, their parents warn of the prison if the minors are spotted late. Men are found shirtless and those who smoke or drink alcohol on the outside are taken to the district offices, warned, and their names and addresses are recorded.

It's a war of loitering – launched by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, famous for his bloody war on drugs and his obsession with the social order. Duterte launched it unannounced on June 13 during one of his disconnected speeches, when he said that people who were hanging out on the streets were to be ordered to the house, and that they were not going to be in the house. they would refuse, he would tie their hands to them personally and lay them in a river.

Manila police took this as a guideline, implemented it with enthusiasm and some 59,000 people have since been apprehended.

The crackdown has been condemned by activists, legal groups and opposition lawmakers who say they have no legal basis since the vagrancy was decriminalized in 2012 and that Duterte is again harassing the poor of Manila already traumatized by the drug war.

"It is imposing control over the poor, using force or the threat of force to intimidate them, for which purpose it is to prevent them from resisting, retaliate, "said opposition member Antonio Tinio. .

Tough on crime

Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images

But Duterte, who says that the anti-vagrancy crackdown is a "crime prevention campaign", has not suffered any backlash.

His public support ratings, built on the back of his disciplinary reputation that keeps things moving, remain high. A survey conducted by Pulse Asia last month showed that 88% of Filipinos had approved Duterte's performance as president.

Former mayor for two decades, Duterte has built his career on his image of "hard on crime". When he ran for president, he promised to kill thousands of drug traffickers.

During his two years in office, the police did exactly that, killing at least 4,500 people who they said were drug suspects who resisted arrest. In his annual speech on the state of the nation, Duterte promised that the war on drugs would continue to be "relentless and frightening".

In his first week, the anti-loafing drive also resulted in death. Genesis Argoncillo, a 25-year-old man arrested for not wearing a shirt, died after being beaten by his cellmates.

Since then, fewer people have been detained for one night or more in the notoriously overcrowded police cells in Manila. Most are reserved and released, about a third are fined and some are charged with offenses.

Two resolutions from a congressman and a senator calling for a legislative inquiry into the crackdown were filed on June 26, although it is unclear whether the one will be launched. Duterte commands a large majority in Congress and the Senate.

Vice President Leni Robredo, elected separately in Duterte, says police are now allowed to abuse and lawyers should help poor communities know their rights. The National Union of Public Lawyers compared the campaign to martial law under Ferdinand Marcos from 1972 to 1981.

"Such police tactics have been historically experienced or used by fascist dictators to silence critics and the public. resistance".

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque did not respond to a request for comment on the comparison with martial law. But he denied that the campaign is anti-poor and argues that the police only target violations of city ordinances and laws.

Parens patriae?

Duterte also denied ordering the arrest of loafers, saying that he had told the police to search people.

He argues that the measures are legal because he can invoke the principle of "parens patriae" (parent of the nation) and recently told the police to follow orders and ignore "disturbed constitutionalists" who challenge the legality of the drive.

Mark Lopez, a pro-Duterte blogger, said that the crime was a big problem and that the public praised Duterte's approach, regardless of what his opponents say.

"They really want to create that fear in people that the president is anti-poor," said Lopez. "The president simply reminds the police to enforce existing laws."

While two detainees were charged with the death of Argoncillo and five policemen were deported, indignation at the crackdown was limited.

An exception was the arrest of several call center workers who were chatting in the street after finishing their night shift. The news became viral and two agents from Manila's main business district were fired.

"They (the police) made us watch the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte about the anti-loafing law … They told us" because the president said it, c & # 39; is immediately a law, "one of the workers wrote on his Facebook page.

John Ribo, who works in a law firm, said the problem was that the police did not know how to implement the campaign.

"It's too much," he says. "I am more worried that I will be arrested by the police who want to earn more money.