The administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has been condemned around the globe due to its intense war on illegal drugs, which has resulted in, what critics consider, “extrajudicial killings.”
The said campaign has been carried out by the Philippine National Police (PNP), which has seen their integrity scrutinized, to the point where their name has been tarnished.
Duterte has been true to his campaign promise of cleansing the nation of illegal drugs. On August 7, 2016, the president delivered a live television address and read off a list of politicians allegedly linked to the illegal drug trade, including the then-mayor of Iloilo City, along with labeling the locale as a “shabu-lized city.”
The parallel of what is happening today is the same as the 19th century, during the advent of opium.
Unbeknownst to many, the Iloilo-Antique farm cultivated opium and was considered one of the largest and most lucrative farms outside of Manila.
Opium (apiyan in Tagalog) was a regulated drug during the Spanish era, with the Chinese having exclusive rights to its legal use. They believed Filipinos would be lazy if they used opium. The idea, however, was contradicted by Sinibaldo De Mas, a Spanish diplomat, who said, “If Filipinos use opium, they will work hard.” His logic stemmed from the highly-addictive quality of the drug and the necessity of money to acquire it.
With the exception of the Sultans in Maguindanao and Sulu, noble families were allowed to use the drug at licensed public houses called fumaderos de anfion or fumadoria de anfion. This was reflected in Jose Rizal’s “El Filibusterismo;” before Kapitan Tiyago died, he could be always seen inside the fumadero smoking opium; he lost all his property because of his addiction.
Rizal surmised, “Ang sugapa ang halimaw ng bisyo (Addiction is the monster of vices).”
The surge in the Chinese population between 1876 and 1886 also contributed to the expansion of opium.
The Chinese used opium as medicine, providing relief from ailments like diarrhea, dysentery, sunstroke, coughing, asthma, pains, cholera, among others. As far back as the 1400s, opium was believed to be an aphrodisiac. It was later developed for recreational use, along with being considered a painkiller.
Opium was even mixed into food.
The turning point was when tobacco entered Southeast Asia and opium would be combined with tobacco, giving rise to “opium smoke.”
In response, the Spanish government began regulating opium as early as 1814, however, opium usage continued to run rampant. The subsequent plan was to use it to help the economy by cultivating opium poppies, with a goal of turning the colony into a major producer and an opium exporter to China.
Unfortunately for the crafters of the policy, the tropical climate did not accommodate for their expected volume.
In the 17th century, there were over 100 Chinese immigrants married to local women based in Molo, which housed the parian (Chinese quarter) for the Western Visayas.
Their mestizo offspring went on to develop a prosperous trading economy through shipping goods and native textiles, which brought in a new wave of Chinese immigrants into Iloilo City after 1855. From 32 in 1857, there were 1,995 living in Iloilo City’s “Chinatown” by 1895.
Chinese immigrants managed import-export wholesaling and retail trade in the province, which was a primary contributor in the Chinese presence throughout Iloilo and an increased demand for opium.
The Iloilo-Antique farm, as reported by Yap Joco at the conclusion of his contract in April 1896, had 100 licensed opium dens; of these, 98 were in Iloilo province, with the other two in Antique.
Once the United States took over their new colony, they saw the prevalence of opium throughout the Philippines. They sought to eradicate the drug, but first, they established an “opium committee” to study the effects of the substance, which led to a gradual ban of the drug.
Meanwhile, massive importation of the drug proliferated between 1899 and 1903 and, with a cholera outbreak in 1902, the American government lifted their ban on opium to allow it for medicinal purposes.
Former revolutionary-turned-provincial health chief Pablo Araneta supported an abolition of drugs. Santiago Gonzales, a schoolteacher from Bais, Negros Oriental, echoed the call, saying, “It matters not that a few hundred may be killed as a result, for in return we shall overcome an evil that threatens to destroy the majority of the Filipino people.”
March 1908 was the ultimatum date for the ban of illegal drugs. As part of the campaign, the American government established rehabilitation centers and offered Chinese residents a choice to either stay in the Philippines and end their opium use or return to China.
This was the birth of the war on illegal drugs, however, the value of such campaigns have since been called into question as the drug war shows no signs of abating./WDJ