Well written account of the Philippines and life under Rodrigo Duterte. It is a sincere hope that this book helps bring to the light the many years of horrific human rights violations under this president, and the decades of violence, poverty, and corruption that both preceded and also helped to usher in, his rule.

I lived in the Philippines for two years and returned home “only” a few months before the Marcos left. I think we were more worried about the threat of the Huks and what was going on in Viet Nam than the goings on in Philippine regime. As I read this book, I was surprised to learn of the level of violence up to recent times. I think Imelda’s 3,000 pair of shoes was more in the news than Ferdinand’s martial law, which was lifted in 1980. Cory Aquino was elected in 1986 and I put the Philippines out of my mind.

Patricia Evangelista is a field correspondent for Rapple, a news agency based in Manila. During the violence of Duterte’s “war on drugs” which started 2016, she made it her job to record the corruption. President Duterte gave the police carte blanche to eliminate drug users, but “sometimes the dead weren’t drug dealers or corrupt mayors or human rights lawyers. Sometimes they were children, but they were killed anyway, and the president said they were collateral damage.” Thousands were eliminated, somewhere 7,884 and 30,000.

What brought this era to a halt? A video that went viral. There’s noting to say that the killing would have been stopped without the ensuing investigation. The author acknowledges that without that video recording a murder on the lawn of an unfinished house would have been just one more story reported by local media and “while I would likely have doubted the official narrative—if I had heard about it at all.”

Patricia Evangelista's "Some People Need Killing" is a gripping exploration of the atrocities committed during the Duterte administration in the Philippines. The author, having grown up in the country, provides a personal perspective that goes beyond typical nonfiction accounts. Evangelista sheds light on the government's bullying tactics, propaganda, and the societal pressure to condone violence, especially against those accused of drug addiction.

The narrative delves into significant events, such as Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos fleeing the country after corruption and election rigging. What sets this book apart is Evangelista's ability to convey not just the historical and political aspects but also the intimate stories of her relatives and their experiences. The author's uncle, in particular, becomes a poignant symbol, counting his children each night and grappling with the absence of his son, Jasdin.

This is not merely a recounting of events; it's a personal journey, touching on the impact of crooked politicians, military involvement, and government-sanctioned killings. Evangelista's storytelling prowess and firsthand experiences, including her early days as a nightcrawler, make this nonfiction piece exceptionally compelling. From start to finish, the book immerses readers in the harrowing realities of a country under attack, offering a powerful and unforgettable narrative that deserves its solid five-star rating. Essential reading for those interested in the Philippines' complex and tragic recent history.

This is a voluntary review for a complimentary ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and the author/publisher.

Some People Need Killing is journalist Patricia Evangelista’s book about the recent Philippines drug war under Duterte and its frightening realities. It’s definitely a slow burn with journalist-style writing about a heavy subject that won’t be for everyone.

In Patricia Evangelista‘s book Some People Need Killing she talks about a People that was bullied and terrorized and totally taken advantage of by the government. The propaganda with so prevalent in the Philippine society that they even told people if they were related to a drug addict they should kill them as to spare them the pain of the government catching them. She talks about when Imelda and Ferdinand Marco had to flee the Philippines after robbing the country and rigging an election what I love about this book is unlike other nonfiction exploits about foreign countries Patricia Evangelista grew up in the Philippines and so therefore could tell us what her relatives were thinking what they thought of the crooked politicians the military the government sanctioned killings and on and on I think having it be a personal story made it so much better. She talks about her uncle whoever night would count his children no matter how drunk uncle Lido God he always remembered who was home who moved out and what grandbabies were sleeping over until the night his son Jasdin wasn’t there for headcount. And this isn’t even the saddest story there was so much to this book I could go on and on with the highlights and what I remember most but it seems like all of it has stuck in my mind this was a great book about a country under attack and a little girl who would grow up to right about all of it we even get to hear about her early days as a nightcrawler. This was such a great book a very solid five star read I love nonfiction in this book is a great example of why. I want to thank Random House andnet Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Some People Need Killing was a very interesting book on history that I knew nothing about. In this non fiction journalistic work we learn the history of the drug wars and the consequences of the "kill all drug dealers" policy. The killing and murder of people got completely out of hand during this time period, and unfortunately I did not know any of this had occurred prior to reading this book.

This book was about the murder of countless people so trigger warning there is a lot of graphic violence depicted in the book. In addition to this, I found that were was a lot of content in the book that seemed to be repeated. However, if you would like to know more about the history of the drug wars in The Philippines this book is a good start.

Booksellers this would be a great hand sell with book like Half a Yellow Sun, which is a historical fiction account of the Biafra wars in Nigeria.

This review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Random House for providing my digital review copy.

Filipina journalist Patricia Evangelista was working for the online news agency Rappler as Rodrigo Duterte (known by many nicknames from his days as a small city mayor, including “the Butcher'' and “the Punisher'') was running for and then won the Presidency of the Philippines in 2016. From day one of Duerte’s reign, both police and vigilante groups began lethally enforcing his promised war on drugs throughout the country, executing purported drug users and drug pushers — on the flimsiest of evidence and rumour — and Evangelista found herself joining the “night shift”: those brave journalists who arrived at the sites of these executions, looking for the truth and recording the stories of the dead. Evangelista began working on Some People Need Killing during a nonfiction writers’ residency in upstate New York in 2018 (an effort she describes as objective reportage, “cold and precise”), but she eventually returned home to Manila, continued to collect the truth, and has crafted her narrative into something more than mere reportage: “This is a book about the dead, and the people who are left behind. It is also a personal story, written in my own voice, as a citizen of a nation I cannot recognize as my own. The thousands who died were killed with the permission of my people. I am writing this book because I refuse to offer mine.”

Some People Need Killing is a remarkable work of witnessing: Evangelista brings many of the forgotten dead out of the shadows — often poor young men who had used drugs at some point; often shot point blank by police officers who would then plant a cheap gun on the victim and report that he had shot first — and she tells the stories of the people who loved them and the lack of consequences for their murderers. And this matters — not just because the world should be aware that this was happening (how did I not know that this was happening?), but because despite losing his bid for reelection in 2022 (to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos; son of the corrupt and brutal dictators), Duerte still rides a populist wave in his home country (I googled Rappler and a tweet from them today reads: “In a rare move, party leaders of the House of Representatives pushed back against former President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent tirades against Congress, its leader Speaker Martin Romualdez, and for threatening to kill one member.” How does this man still walk the streets?) Truth matters and witnessing matters and getting a warning out to the rest of the world matters, and Evangelista has written a harrowing, sensitive, and fact-filled account that ought to matter to everyone. Highest rating and recommendation.

This fascinating and informative memoir is a journal of the drug war in the Philippines that was orchestrated by Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
Under his regime, thousands of people were extrajudicially killed by police and vigilantes presumably on drug-related offences that couldn’t always be proved.
Duterte was elected to the office of the President based on his promises to end corruption and poverty, and “to find those people involved in drugs and kill them.” What many of his supporters did not expect was the blood bath and the vigilante lawlessness that overtook the streets following his election.

In this book, journalist Patricia Evangelista takes a long and lingering look at some of the many killings Duterte is responsible for and recounts the stories of the victims and their loved ones.

The writing style does tend to get repetitive at times and unnecessarily elaborating the grammar behind certain words for far too long takes away from the flow of the story. However, this is a well-researched book that documents Duterte’s rise to power and the lives that were taken in his name.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @randomhouse for the ARC.

"Some People Need Killing" is a well written, well researched book about the p0litical landscape in the Philippines and how the nation's political leadership tackles the drug trade. The book can be both disturbing and enlightening at the same time. Patricia Evangelista goes head first into the scary world of drugs and murder. She boldly speaks with devastated families, dirty policemen, and pompous politicians. Nothing is held back.

The book is extremely well researched and planned out. It does get confusing at times to keep the victims and witnesses straight as so many cases are revealed. If you're interested in Philippines' politics, you'll want to read this narrative.