Reflections | Long before Duterte, terror tactics restored order in ancient China
The brutality of the Philippines’ war on drugs has echoes of an ancient Chinese crackdown on gangs that saw 700 people buried alive
In the three months since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines, about 3,000 people have died as a result of his brutal war on drugs. While many laud the swift justice meted out because they believe due process is no longer effective against the country’s drug scourge, others are appalled by the violence of the extrajudicial killings carried out by vigilantes, which may or may not have been officially sanctioned.
The city’s prefect, Yi Shang, was given special discretionary powers to maintain law and order. He ordered security forces and neighbourhood elders to report “frivolous and ill-disciplined youths, traders and artisans who were not registered residents, and people donning suspicious clothing and armour and carrying weapons”.
Several hundred people were rounded up and buried alive in underground chambers. A hundred days later, their families were ordered to collect the corpses.
