Journalist Patricia Evangelista came of age in the aftermath of a street revolution that forged a new future for the Philippines. Three decades later, in the face of mounting inequality, the nation discovered the fragility of its democratic institutions under the regime of strongman Rodrigo Duterte. Some People Need Killing is Evangelista’s meticulously reported and deeply human chronicle of the Philippines’ drug war. For six years, Evangelista chronicled the killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of Duterte’s war on drugs—a war that has led to the slaughter of thousands—immersing herself in the world of killers and survivors and capturing the atmosphere of fear created when an elected president decides that some lives are worth less than others.
Around the world: Philippines
Are you wondering why I read a 500-page book on government-sanctioned murder in the Philippines?
Me too.
Here, Patricia Evangelista tells us about her story as a journalist covering crime scenes. She weaves it with President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. The man said a dealer or addict didn’t deserve to live. Then, his militias started executing dealers. And then addicts. And then people who had smoked weed once. And then children who had been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The entire country has to deal with that in one way or another, so they bend their minds and convince themselves this is probably what they want.
This book was incredibly well-written, with impressive pacing between the horrors of the daily murders, Evangelista’s life as a relatively famous Filipina, the rise and dictatorship of Duterte, and the mental gymnastics Filipino people have to perform to justify everything happening around them, whatever « side » they are on.
👍
Jo the Neenish Tart