Political Violence in the Philippines

PRIF Report by Peter Kreuzer on the cultural context of a widespread practice

The killing of political opponents is an esta­blished practice in the Philip­pines, to which several dozen office­holders fall victim each year and which under­mines democracy. In this report, Peter Kreuzer presents a detailed data set on this type of violence and answers the questions why the practice is so wide­spread and why it hardly ever provokes public debate. The analysis focuses on the peace covenant, a central means of symbolic politics to contain violence, but one that uninten­tionally naturalizes it.

Dr Peter Kreuzer is Senior Researcher at PRIF's Research Department "Intrastate Conflict". He and Dr Jonas Wolff direct the project Democracy beyond legitimate coercion: Deadly use of force by the police in the Philippines and Brazil.

Download: Kreuzer, Peter (2021): "If You Can't Beat Them, Kill Them". Fatal Violence against Politicians in the Philippines, PRIF Report 2/2021, Frankfurt/M.

Here you can view the Online-Appendix.