The following article details the reactions, both local and international, to the Philippine drug war.
Local
Senator Risa Hontiveros, an opponent of Duterte, said that the drug war was a political strategy intended to persuade people that "suddenly the historically most important issue of poverty was no longer the most important."
President Duterte claimed to recognize poverty as a key problem of the country; the administration's 10-point Socioeconomic Agenda, no.8 is to improve social protection programs, including the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, to protect the poor. President Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11315, or the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act. RA 11315 authorizing the government to adopt a CBMS.
De Lima expressed frustration with the attitude of Filipinos towards extrajudicial killings: "they think that it's good for peace and order. We now have death squads on a national scale, but I'm not seeing public outrage."
President Duterte has denied involvement in the ‘Davao Death Squad.’ “It started in Davao as a political issue. As a matter of fact, you go to Davao, the DDS is not really a DDS. It was during the time ‘Sparrow versus the DDS of government,” President Duterte said. The President has pointed out that not a single case was filed against him when Senator Leila de Lima was Chair of the Commission on Human Rights for 7 years.
During his fourth SONA, the President called on officials to work towards lifting 6 million Filipinos out of poverty. According to data from Pulse Asia surveys, the poverty-stricken, classes D and E, never gave the President approval and trust ratings below 70% throughout the first half of his presidency. According to a Pulse Asia opinion poll conducted from July 2 to 8, 2016, 91% of Filipinos "trusted" Duterte. A survey conducted between February and May 2017, by PEW research center, found that 78% of the Filipinos support the drug war. A survey in September 2017 showed 88% support for the drug war, while 73% believed that extrajudicial executions were occurring. An independent survey in September 2017 showed that 88% of Filipinos support the drug war. As of 2019, it is at 82%.
Dela Rosa announced in September 2016 that the drug war had "reduced the supply of illegal drugs in the country by some 80 to 90 percent", and said that the War was already being won, based on statistical and observational evidence.
Aljazeera reported that John Collins, director of the London School of Economics International Drug Policy Project, said: "Targeting the supply side can have short-term effects. However, these are usually limited to creating market chaos rather than reducing the size of the market. ... What you learn is that you're going to war with a force of economics and the force of economics tends to win out: supply, demand and price tend to find their own way." He said it was a "certainty" that "the Philippines' new 'war' will fail and society will emerge worse off from it."
Malacañang and the chief of police declared the drug war a success, claiming that supply has been cut by 90 percent, with the government regaining authority at national penitentiary Bilibid where incarcerated leaders of cartels continue to control the narcotics chain from their swish cells.
In June 2017 the price of methamphetamine on the streets of Manila was lower than it had been at the start of Duterte's presidency, according to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency data. Gloria Lai of the International Drug Policy Consortium commented: "If prices have fallen, it's an indication that enforcement actions have not been effective".
The Chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., quelled fears that foreign investors might be put off by the increasing rate of killings in the country, explaining at a press conference on September 19, 2016, that investors only care about profit: "They don't care if 50% of Filipinos are killing each other so long as they're not affected". On the following day the Wall Street Journal reported that foreign investors, who account for half of the activity on the Philippine Stock Exchange, had been "hightailing it out of town", selling $500 million worth of shares over the past month, putting pressure on the Philippine peso which was close to its weakest point since 2009.
The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle acknowledged that people were right to be "worried about extrajudicial killings", along with other "form[s] of murder": abortion, unfair labor practices, wasting of food, and "selling illegal drugs, pushing the youth into vices".
A Redemptorist Brother named Jun Santiago, whose Sinirangan coffeeshop beneath Baclaran Church's bell tower closed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, reopened his social enterprise later the same year as Silingan Coffee, employing as baristas some of the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of victims of the Philippine drug war's alleged extrajudicial killings.
International
During his official state visit to the Philippines in January 2017, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said: "On countering illegal drugs, we want to work together with the Philippines through relevant measures of support". He offered financial assistance for Philippine drug rehabilitation centers, and made no mention of deaths resulting from the drug war. He announced an $800 million Official Development Assistance package to "promote economic and infrastructure development".
In June 2016, Gary Song-Huann Lin, the representative of Taiwan in the Philippines, welcomed Duterte's plan to declare a war against criminality and illegal drugs. He said Taiwan is ready to help the Philippines combat cross-border crimes like human and drug trafficking. He later reasserted on October that Taiwan was an indispensable partner to the Philippines’ war on drugs. In 2018, Ricardo Parojinog, an alleged narcopolitician at Ozamiz and the brother of Reynaldo, was detained in Taiwan for illegal immigration and later deported to the Philippines; he was then found dead in September 2020.
On July 19, 2016, Lingxiao Li, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Manila, announced China's support for the drug war: "China fully understands that the Philippine government under the leadership of H. E. President Rodrigo Duterte has taken it as a top priority to crack down on drug-related crimes. China has expressed explicitly to the new administration China's willingness for effective cooperation in this regard, and would like to work out a specific plan of action with the Philippine side." The statement made no reference to extrajudicial killings, and called illegal drugs the "common enemy of mankind". On September 27, the Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua reiterated that "Illegal drugs are the enemy of all mankind" in a statement confirming Chinese support for the Duterte administration.
Indonesian National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian commented in regards to Indonesia's rejection of a similar policy for Indonesia: "Shoot on sight policy leads to abuse of power. We still believe in the presumption of innocence. Lethal actions are only warranted if there is an immediate threat against officers... there should not be a deliberate attempt to kill". In September 2016 Budi Waseso, head of Indonesia's National Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN), said that he was currently contemplating copying the Philippines' hardline tactics against drug traffickers. He said that the Agency planned a major increase in armaments and recruitment. An Agency spokesman later attempted to downplay the comments, stating: "We can't shoot criminals just like that, we have to follow the rules." Most recently, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo used the language of "emergency" to ramp up the country's war on drugs, in a move that observers see as "in step with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's" own campaign against the illegal drug trade.
On September 9, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key spoke to Duterte about "arguably better" ways to deal with drug issues. The then Prime Minister commented "Now he didn't really give us a direct answer to what happens when and if innocent people get associated with what is essentially extra-judicial killings." The New Zealand Government has repeatedly spoken to Duterte regarding his war on drugs across several administrations since and there was some consideration in barring Duterte from a layover arrival in New Zealand following the 2016 APEC summit in Peru, due to his human rights record, mainly as a result of the war on drugs.
On October 16, prior to Duterte's departure for a state visit to Brunei, the President said he would seek the support of that country for his campaign against illegal drugs and Brunei's continued assistance to achieve peace and progress in Mindanao. This was responded to positively by Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah the next day according to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said "he respects the method undertaken by the Philippine government as it is suitable for their country's situation", while stressing that "Malaysia will never follow such an example as we have our own methods such as seizing assets used in drug trafficking with resultant funds to be channelled back towards rehabilitation, prevention and enforcement of laws against drugs".
On December 3, 2016, Duterte said that during a phone conversation on the previous day with then-United States President-elect Donald Trump, Trump had invited him to Washington, and endorsed his drug-war policy, assuring him that it was being conducted "the right way". Duterte described the conversation:
On December 16, Duterte and Singaporean President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to work together in the fight against terrorism and illegal drugs. In a meeting during a state visit both parties discussed areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The European Parliament expressed concern over extrajudicial killings in a resolution September 15, stating: "Drug trafficking and drug abuse in the Philippines remain a serious national and international concern, note MEPs. They understand that millions of people are hurt by the high level of drug addiction and its consequences in the country but are also concerned by the 'extraordinarily high numbers killed during police operations in the context of an intensified anti-crime and anti-drug campaign."
In response, the Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano stated that the European Parliament had crossed a red line when it called for interfering in the Philippines’ sovereignty. The resolution was said to be "biased, incomplete and even wrong information and does not reflect the true situation on the ground". In addition, the European Parliament was also criticized when the Philippine presidential spokesperson said that it is inconsistent that the European Parliament will condemn the war against drugs, which is now also being financed partly by the European Union especially in drug rehabilitation projects.
In response, at a press conference Duterte made an obscene hand gesture and claimed that the European Parliament's members were "hypocrites" whose colonial-era ancestors killed "thousands" of Arabs and other peoples. Duterte stated that "When I read the EU condemnation I told them fuck you. You are doing it in atonement for your sins. They are now strict because they have guilty feelings. Who did I kill? Assuming that it's true? 1,700? How many have they killed?"
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, in a visit to the Philippines in March 2017, warned that unless the Philippines addresses human rights issues, the EU would cancel tariff-free export of 6,000 products under the Generalized System of Preferences. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella dismissed the concerns, saying that they revealed European ignorance.