On the President's Orders

Stunning cinematography and impressive access, with gritty street scenes and hard-hitting moments as we watch the wholesale erosion of human rights in Duterte's Philippines. A film noir for our times. Essential viewing

The most beautifully filmed documentary I have ever seen. A visceral street level look into the war on drugs with unparalleled access and film noir visuals

You're able to watch this for free on PBS Frontline's YouTube channel. I haven't watched a documentary in long time. Normally I like fiction, escapism. Something that doesn't really remind me of some of the harsh realities out there. You get enough of that in the real world or read about it every day on platforms like Twitter.

This one was interesting though. Stylishly shot it explores a chilling reality that you see in futuristic dystopian sci-fi movies like Judge Dredd (Dredd was way more fair though). A society where cops are judge, jury and executioner. A president who compares himself to Hitler openly cheers cops who kill people who are somehow involved with drugs, as users or producers. Images of a cop wearing a death skull mask you often see people in violent criminal gangs wear. CCTV footage of a suspected drug user being killed in broad daylight in a busy street in drive-by by two people on a motorcycle. It was with his kid around whos experience is featured in this documentary. On the President's Orders is a surreal experience.

Drugs are a big problem everywhere. No matter what drug it is it always brings many undesirable effects to society. I've read a book by a former self-proclaimed drug kingpin in Europe who stated that he was the reason violent crime was introduced in the trade. That in the 70s it was hippy type who sold weed and were peaceful. A romanticized view. And when he came along he just took their stashes with the dealers being afraid to fight back. However this has always been a fantasy, the drug trade is vicious. There are instances where drugs can be positive like MS where people use medicinal marijuana for symptom relief. And I can even see a recreational user who does it like twice a year. However the statistics show that drugs are often linked to poverty, crime and mental illness. The debate has always been what comes first the drugs or the other problems.

In the Philippines they deal with it in an unorthodox way. My way or the highway. Unforgiving if you are suspected of being involved with drugs you can lose your life. There are supposedly death squads who take out people described as 'pests'. As you can imagine someone can easily be framed and the documentary makes you go through a range of emotions when you realize what would happen when there's no law. The war on drugs in the Philippines is all in the name of keeping the country safe. However you can never create a humane society through inhumanity. But it does make you think what can a government really do to effectively solve the problem because drugs are a problem everywhere? Overall a very thought-provoking documentary.

A great hard hitting documentary, beautifully shot and directed by two fantastic film makers. You can clearly see how deeply the victims of corrupt police are being affected. It's incredible that the police allowed such access to them and their levels or arrogance to openly discuss their crimes in front of the camera is astounding. But, unsurprising given their presidents sanctioning of their actions. Thankfully their own desires for fame have tripped them up and those conversations they thought would go un-noticed we perfectly translated.

The power of this documentary is clearly visible by the amount of pro-Duterte criticism and objection to the film. It is uncomfortable to watch I'm sure for those who support such a man and his willingness to sanction state murder.

Drugs ruin many people's lives. Making them illegal turns the supply chain criminal and arguably multiplies the damage. In the Phillipines, an endemic of drug-fuelled crime by been addressed by the President effectively deciding to eliminate (through the use of armed police) anyone involved in the drug trade in any way, including low-end users. It's horrific, and while this documentary follows a supposed attempt to improve police practice, the officers' commitment to desisting from murder always seems wafer thin and a brief period of relative calm is ended with a resumption of a quite literal war on drugs. The shocking disregard for human life matches the stupidity of the policy; footage of an actual (possibly police-delivered) killing adds to the sense of immediacy. In a just world, President Duterte would be the one facing justice; but even he does not deserve the fate he hands out to those whose real crime is simply to be poor.