A critical discursive psychology study of dehumanization and retributive justice in Duterte’s war on drugs

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) launched the War on Drugs, a campaign spearheaded by Oplan Tokhang and linked to an estimated 12,000 to 30,000 deaths. Despite compelling evidence of human rights violations and violence against people, war on drugs was still supported among the people. Hence, the qualitative study addresses a critical gap on how the Filipino use language to adopt, resist, or negotiate dehumanization to justify or challenge the punitive measures of Duterte's War on Drugs. Drawing from the eight (8) interview data, the analysis identified four (4) dominant interpretative repertoires: (1) the pathologization and criminalization of Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders (PSUDs), (2) the framing of the War on Drugs as protective, ineffective, or unjust, (3) justice as either redemptive or retributive, and (4) media as a key determinant of public perception. The study highlights how discourse not only reflects but also reproduces the political and moral boundaries that define who is worthy of care and who becomes disposable. It underscores the urgent need to reframe substance use as a public health issue rooted in structural conditions, and to humanize PSUDs in both policy and public dialogue.