Duterte’s Drug War & Press Freedom | Correspondents

Former Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, being held at The Hague, is set to become the first Asian ex-head of state to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

As mayor of Davao City and later as president, Duterte spearheaded a yearslong “war on drugs”—a brutal campaign that human rights groups say claimed as many as 30,000 lives, most of them from poor families. Despite his bloody legacy, Duterte remains hugely popular among many Filipinos.

However, with his arrest by the ICC and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, now fighting for her political survival, the once-unshakable Duterte dynasty may be facing its most critical test yet.

In this special edition of Correspondents, host Louise Watt is in Manila to speak to Pia Ranada, Paterno Esmaquel II and Lian Buan, senior reporters of Rappler, a Philippines news site that was at the forefront of investigating the former president’s war on drugs.

On this show:
00:00 - Intro
02:16 - Did Duterte’s arrest come as a surprise?
04:29 – Was political feud behind Duterte’s arrest?
05:01 – Is this the end of the Duterte dynasty?
06:31 – Why Duterte remains popular in the Philippines
08:32 – Duterte & the 2025 midterm elections
10:54 – Reporting Duterte’s bloody drug war
12:20 – ‘Nanlaban’: Justifying drug war killings
14:40 – Duterte’s battles with the media
19:52 – Finding new ways to report amid bans
21:20 – Rappler lessons for press freedom
23:05 – Did the drug war achieve its purpose?
24:24 – How did the drug war change Philippine society?
25:19 – ‘Collaboration is key to survival’

#TaiwanPlus #TaiwanPlusNews #TaiwanNews #Philippines #RodrigoDuterte #Digong #DrugWar #Journalists #FreePress

Watch this episode of Correspondents, where we talk about the latest stories and what's going on behind the headlines with reporters in the Asia-Pacific region.

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