Since the election of Rodrigo Duterte as president, the Philippines have been engulfed in a vicious campaign against drug-related crime. More than 1,500 suspects have been killed by police officers in so-called legitimates encounters. An analysis of past patterns of killing by police shows that there are widespread, if less conspicious, antecedents to the current spate of police-prepetrated vigilante justice. In the past and now, the differences between provinces and regions are attributable to the attitudes of officials in power at the local level. The pressure exerted on local officials by the current national administration reduces their options for resisting the invitation to carry out acts of vigilante justice. The current patterns of strongman rule also also exhibit dsiturbing similarities to the ones used by Ferdinand Marcos before the declaration of martial law in 1972 (and should be seen as an omnious portent of what else lies ahead. Dr Peter Kreuzer, Member of the Executive Board of the PRIF, is a senior-researchr in PRIF's research department "Governance and Societal Peace". In his research he focuses on Philippine domestic politics and maritime and territorial conflicts in the South China Sea.