but could have been
Light the fire
The portraits and stories featured on this site are a call to action. You and I will refuse to be helpless about the killings. Spread the word. Know what is true and what is mere propaganda. Do what you can to stop the dissemination of fake news. Give your support to the victims and their families any way you can. Let them know that they matter.
Learn more. Help when you can.
Organisations
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Solidarity with Orphans and Widows: A support group for the families left behind by the victims in Payatas, an impoverished community built around a landfill area in Quezon City. The group provides counselling for children, group sharing sessions with the adults, livelihood projects and community activities.
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Rise Up for Life and for Rights: A group made up of human rights advocates and families of drug war victims. The organisation offers financial support, counselling and livelihood seminars, as well as legal assistance.
Studies and reports
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Dahas: A multisectoral undertaking to produce and subsequently disseminate rigorous research outputs that can sustain an evidence-based intervention in ongoing public debates in the Philippines about violence and tendencies towards authoritarianism.
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The Drug Archive: A data-driven examination of the Philippine anti-drug campaign
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Human Rights Watch: Philippines' "War on Drugs"
Join our fundraising campaign
Those We Lost started out as an online memorial, but over the years, I've come to personally know some of the families of the victims. I'd like this project to be more than just a way of remembering the victims. I'd like it for it to help sustain their families as they face the daily, mundane challenges of living in poverty in the Philippines while also seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. I wrote about this in detail in my newsletter here.
For now, we're starting with a simple fundraiser that will directly benefit 13 families on our list with. Depending on how much we raise, we will also donate to organisations that help victims' families, specifially Rise Up and Project SOW.
If you'd like to donate, please go to our fundraiser page here. Even if you can't donate, please consider sharing the page with people you know. We'd appreciate any amount you can give.