Decoding Duterte’s drug war:
What the terms mean in law

THE LAWS and official documents abound with terms and concepts that are sometimes easy and clear, but often vague and difficult, to fathom. But it is by their letter and intent that the virulent war on drugs of the Duterte administration must be implemented by the authorities, and must be understood by the citizens.

Let us unpack those that are most often repeated in the unyielding discourse on the drug war: