Over 35 days in the Philippines, Daniel Berehulak captured the images of 57 people killed in a brutal campaign that President Rodrigo Duterte has called a crackdown on drugs.
Mr. Berehulak writes in the piece, “What I experienced in the Philippines felt like a new level of ruthlessness:
police officers’ summarily shooting anyone suspected of dealing or even using drugs, vigilantes’ taking seriously Mr. Duterte’s call to ‘slaughter them all.’”
Daniel Berehulak won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography.
PALACE RESPECTS Pulitzer win
Malacañang is not fond of the foreign press critical of its drug war but showed respect when one of the major news outlets won a prestigious award for its coverage of the violent crackdown.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said they respect the Pulitzer Prize win for the New York Times’ photo essay on the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. “The Pulitzer Prize Board has its own criteria and selection process and we respect their decision on this matter,” Abella said.
Still, Abella indicated the government’s resentment towards the foreign media. “The Western press has been highly critical of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drug traffickers and violators,” he said.
Reports said the Times won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for the breaking news photography on the war on drugs in the Philippines last year. (NYT and Genalyn Kabiling)