--- description: National Geographic's new episode on the Philippines' drug war, which airs Monday, shows the aftermath of a few of more than 7,000 killings. title: National Geographic Film Shows Horrors of Duterte's Drug War image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8871fca83061a4/6988bd12fb4eac0c49891002/gettyimages-583632408.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Horrors of Duterte's Drug War Exposed in New _National Geographic_ Episode by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:15 AM CUTPublished: Mar 6, 2017 1:30 PM CUT  Police examine the body of an alleged drug dealer and victim of a summary execution on July 14, 2016 in Manila, Philippines. Police examine the body of an alleged drug dealer and victim of a summary execution on July 14, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.Dondi Tawatao—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:15 AM CUTPublished: Mar 6, 2017 1:30 PM CUT A couple of weeks before Christmas, _National Geographic_‘s Ryan Duffy joined Filipino crime beat reporters on Manila’s graveyard shift. On a tip, the American rides in a convoy of press cars to the scene of a vigilante killing. So begins a new feature on the Philippines’ drug war, which airs Monday. It shows the aftermath of the first of five deadly shootings reported that night; one of over 7,000 since Rodrigo Duterte began his so-called[ war on drugs ](http://time.com/4691516/philippines-duterte-drug-war-rap/ "undefined")on July 1. Replete with footage of bagged bodies in rain-slicked slums and relatives weeping at wakes — and overlaid with the Philippine President’s brutal statements on killing millions of addicts — _Nat Geo_ captures in motion a world rendered by James Nachtwey in his series [_In Manila Death Comes by Night_](http://time.com/philippines-drug-war/ "undefined"), and by local photographers on the [frontlines of the war.](http://time.com/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-drug-war-local-photographers/ "undefined") Duffy’s reporting — from crime scene, to wake, to drug rehab center — roughly follows the trajectory of Rishi Iyengar’s [_The Killing Time_](http://time.com/4462352/rodrigo-duterte-drug-war-drugs-philippines-killing/ "undefined"). But there’s also footage of a little-shown aspect of the drug war: Operation Tokhang — a portmanteau of the Visayan words for “knock” and “plead.” A clip shows police sweeping through a neighborhood and apparently arbitrarily detaining residents. The film suggest that the list of “surrendered” people compiled under such operations — which now counts more than 1 million members — might just be a hit list. “If you don’t surrender they will kill you. But then again, even if you surrender they will also kill you,” the father of a son who had surrendered and was later killed by police said in the first episode of _Nat Geo_‘s Explorer series. In a December [survey conducted](http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/12/19/sws-78-percent-fear-EJK.html "undefined") by Social Weather Station, 78% of Filipinos said they feared they or someone they knew would become a victim of extrajudicial killings — yet 85% reported being satisfied with the ongoing operations to curb drugs. It’s a contradiction captured neatly here. “Drug addicts are not humans,” one interviewee said in support of the killings. His is a popular refrain. It comes straight from the President himself: “Crime against humanity?” Duterte has [memorably mused](https://www.yahoo.com/news/drug-users-arent-human-says-philippines-duterte-110624632.html "undefined"), “In the first place, I’d like to be frank with you: are they humans?” _National Geographic_‘s Explorer returns Monday, March 6. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4689742/national-geographic-philippines-drug-war/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4689742/national-geographic-philippines-drug-war/"},"headline":"Horrors of Duterte's Drug War Exposed in New National Geographic Episode","datePublished":"2017-03-06T13:30:12.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T11:15:02.000Z","description":"The feature questions whether the list of over 1-million \"surrendered\" people is really just a hit list","url":"https://time.com/4689742/national-geographic-philippines-drug-war/","keywords":["Philippines","Drug War","duterte","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8871fca83061a4/6988bd12fb4eac0c49891002/gettyimages-583632408.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8871fca83061a4/6988bd12fb4eac0c49891002/gettyimages-583632408.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Philippines War On Drugs Continues","caption":"Philippines War On Drugs Continues","creditText":"Dondi Tawatao—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4689742/national-geographic-philippines-drug-war/","name":"Horrors of Duterte's Drug War Exposed in New National Geographic Episode"}}]}] ```