Just over a month into his second year as the President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte’s style of functioning is still fodder for the mill. His ongoing war on drugs, his presidential launch mission, continues to draw attention for its fallout of the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including extrajudicial killings. While the idea of a drug-free Philippines still carries immense populist merit — according to the Philippine Information Agency, there are currently four million drug addicts, and a drug industry bolstered on 120 billion Pesos (Dh870,870) — it is the implementation of this vision that has raised the concern of many international monitoring bodies and countries. Not just the vast civilian collateral damage, but the rampant police impunity in weeding out the so-called guilty continues to trouble the international community. Congruent with this concern are Duterte’s flagrant exhortations and his unapologetic means to the end. And this is where the issue begs for a change — Duterte’s anti-drug policy and its pursuit need to ascend to mature political strategies rather than remain arguably personal priorities. This transformation is crucial not just for the Philippines but also to lend Duterte’s presidential image the heft as a leader and statesman who will take his country into the future with assurance rather than with belligerence. Already, other developments in the country, such as the terrorist uprising sponsored by Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Marawi, Mindanao, Duterte’s home province, that left hundreds dead and thousands fleeing the area are raising questions regarding the clarity of his overview. Duterte’s war on drugs could well be predicated on a noble aim but the aim, and its practice, need to find their rightful place in Philippines’ modern history.