PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has said that he idolized Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strongman who has been at the helm of the Kremlin for over two decades now and has drawn worldwide condemnation for greenlighting the invasion of Ukraine.
Duterte said he is unlike Putin, saying Putin has killed civilians, referring to Russia’s ongoing war against its neighboring country in Eastern Europe.
The President has said he only killed criminals. During the inauguration of the provincial capitol in Leyte last March 17, Duterte said: “Si Putin pinapatay pati sibilyan dun. Ako sino ba pinatay ko? Pinatay ko puro kriminal. Bakit ko pinatay? Sa droga (Putin has killed civilians there. Who did I kill? I killed only criminals. Why did I kill them? Because of drugs).”
Duterte also acknowledged during an interview with former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque last Sunday, April 10 that he has a case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in relation to his bloody war on drugs which he launched after sitting in Malacañang in 2016. The Chief Executive had promised to end the drug menace in six months before he won the presidential elections, but his promise still has to materialize.
President Duterte’s drug war has brought pain to loved ones of suspected pushers and users who had not been afforded due process because they were killed for reportedly resisting arrest.
Remember the death of 17-year-old student Kian Loyd delos Santos on Aug. 16, 2017? The teenager was killed during an anti-narcotics operation in Caloocan by anti-narcotics operatives Arnel Oares, Jeremiah Pereda and Jerwin Cruz. The police identified delos Santos as a courier working for a pusher, but they were unable to provide sufficient evidence.
The plainclothes operatives pursuing delos Santos shot at him in defense after he opened fire at them first; however, witnesses’ accounts and security camera footage contradicted their narrative. Criminal charges were filed against the three police officers, which eventually led to their conviction.
Was delos Santos a criminal? Certainly not.
President Duterte is no Vladimir Putin. He will be judged by history or by the ICC as Rodrigo Roa Duterte.