Taken together, the oral narratives of families left behind by Duterte’s drug war reveal a shared understanding of political struggle and resistance

06 Mar 2026

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is infamous for his war on drugs campaign, commonly known as Oplan Tokhang, which killed countless members of urban poor communities and left numerous families suffering the consequences of losing a loved one to state violence. This article centers on the narratives of ten (10) mothers and wives whose loved ones perished in Duterte’s drug war and who eventually joined the non-government organization called Rise Up for Life and for Rights that opposes drug-related extrajudicial killings and violations. Guided by Ernest Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory, it brings to the surface the prevailing characters, settings, and plotlines embedded in the oral narratives of these left-behind women. Out of these converging elements, it further crafts the rhetorical vision of these women in relation to the brutal death of their beloved and to their own struggles and sufferings. This article throws into light a rhetorical vision that accounts for how families of the victims are no longer simply mothers and wives incapable of resistance and vulnerable to all forms of injustices. Informed, empowered, and open to change, they have realized and actively practice a kind of political agency in the wake of the adversities they faced during Duterte’s presidency and continue to face at the present time.

The article examines the elements, experiences, and encounters that comprise the oral narratives of families left behind by Duterte’s drug war. But rather than considering these aspects in isolation, they were considered together. Understanding them in conjunction with one another establishes that a collective understanding of political struggle and resistance has emerged among the respondents.

Moreover, the article reveals why the act of narrating is significant for the mothers and wives included here. The respondents have shown how oral narratives could contain and convey the layered ordeals they face then and now, using these oral narratives not only to expose the exploitation, discrimination, and intimidation they face from the police and other Filipinos but also to critique Duterte’s drug war. Their oral narratives show how left-behind families actively reinterpret their tragic experiences, rethink their views on drugs and drug users, overcome feelings of powerlessness, and reshape their sense of victimhood and marginalization.

Authors: Francis Louie F. Palaspas (Independent scholar) and Oscar T. Serquiña, Jr. (Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman)

Read the full paper: https://brill.com/view/journals/ppsj/45/3/article-p213_1.xml

Image by Paul De Vota from Pexels

Taken together, the oral narratives of families left behind by Duterte’s drug war reveal a shared understanding of political struggle and resistance

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is infamous for his war on drugs campaign, commonly known as Oplan Tokhang, which killed countless members of urban poor communities and left numerous families suffering the consequences of losing a loved one to state violence. This article centers on the narratives of ten (10) mothers and wives whose loved ones perished in Duterte’s drug war and who eventually joined the non-government organization called Rise Up for Life and for Rights that opposes drug-related extrajudicial killings and violations. Guided by Ernest Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory, it brings to the surface the prevailing characters, settings, and plotlines embedded in the oral narratives of these left-behind women. Out of these converging elements, it further crafts the rhetorical vision of these women in relation to the brutal death of their beloved and to their own struggles and sufferings. This article throws into light a rhetorical vision that accounts for how families of the victims are no longer simply mothers and wives incapable of resistance and vulnerable to all forms of injustices. Informed, empowered, and open to change, they have realized and actively practice a kind of political agency in the wake of the adversities they faced during Duterte’s presidency and continue to face at the present time.

The article examines the elements, experiences, and encounters that comprise the oral narratives of families left behind by Duterte’s drug war. But rather than considering these aspects in isolation, they were considered together. Understanding them in conjunction with one another establishes that a collective understanding of political struggle and resistance has emerged among the respondents.

Moreover, the article reveals why the act of narrating is significant for the mothers and wives included here. The respondents have shown how oral narratives could contain and convey the layered ordeals they face then and now, using these oral narratives not only to expose the exploitation, discrimination, and intimidation they face from the police and other Filipinos but also to critique Duterte’s drug war. Their oral narratives show how left-behind families actively reinterpret their tragic experiences, rethink their views on drugs and drug users, overcome feelings of powerlessness, and reshape their sense of victimhood and marginalization.

Authors: Francis Louie F. Palaspas (Independent scholar) and Oscar T. Serquiña, Jr. (Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman)

Read the full paper: https://brill.com/view/journals/ppsj/45/3/article-p213_1.xml

Image by Paul De Vota from Pexels