| Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte may have committed crimes against humanity in a systematic, wide-spread campaign of mass killing against civilians. This paper argue that this anti-crime campaign of mass violence is integral to the autocratization experienced in the Philippines under Duterte. Rather than overt political repression against state opponents, the tactic produces fear but confounds institutional backlash. The violence adds a coercive element to concomitant attacks on institutions of horizontal accountability and distorts public opinion. The case demonstrates that using a violence indicator signifies an earlier onset and longer duration than recognized backsliding periods, that could have otherwise gone undetected. |