During the Duterte era, which lasted from 2016 to 2022, *dead* was a good word for a journalist. Dead is a sure thing; it has bones, skin, and flesh and can be touched, seen, photographed, and blurred for broadcast. Dead, whether it’s 44 or 58 or 27,000 or 1, is dead. Words carry immense significance. They convey not only facts and events but also emotions, moods, and atmosphere. To choose the right words to describe Duterte’s presidency, you need to know more about his goals.

Combatting drug addiction in the Philippines was Duterte's primary task. So when the president said to kill drug addicts, drug addicts died. He said to kill mayors, and mayors died. He said to kill lawyers, and lawyers died. Sometimes, the people who needed killing were not drug dealers, corrupt mayors, or human rights lawyers. Sometimes, they were children, but they were killed nonetheless. The president said they were collateral damage.

There is no word for "murder" in Filipino. There are *patayin* and *paslangin*. Both mean "to kill." The Filipino language does not distinguish between the deliberate killing of a human being by another and accidental death. However, President Duterte emphasized this distinction. He pointed out that he did not advocate killing from behind because that was murder. He declared war on drug traffickers, those who were destroying the Filipino youth, and called for their killing.

Through her articles, Patricia, the author of the book and the reporter, shed light on the consequences of Roberto Duterte's promises, orders, and actions. She did not know the real names of the deceased, so she invented names for them in her articles. To avoid repeating the word "drug addict," she used familiar terms like pushers, users, dealers, monsters, and madmen.