Conclusion

The Conclusion traces the arc of Philippine Drug War through the present day, a trajectory that encompasses both Duterte’s arrest and pending trial at the International Criminal Court, and the changing public activism of Catholic elites as the Drug War violence fades, but challenges of democratic backsliding persist. There is evidence that Catholic elites’ willingness to publicly defend human rights during the Drug War buttressed their perceived moral authority, but questions remain about the nature of effective intervention to strengthen democracy more broadly. The chapter’s middle section uses key elements of the theory of religious protection from populist state violence to identify substantive new research questions relating to religion and democratic backsliding, populism and political violence, and civil society and human rights. A final section sets out practical implications of the research for the on-the-ground work of religious elites, civil society activists, local government officials, journalists, and others to identify specific, actionable steps to take should state violence under populism threaten local communities.