VICE President Sara Duterte defended detained former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign, saying the implementation of his controversial "drug war" should not be equated with crimes against humanity.
Speaking before supporters in The Hague, where the former President is facing proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Duterte said the Philippine government has long maintained a policy of “zero tolerance” against illegal drugs and that the drug war, which involves Oplan Tokhang, was merely the administration's programs to implement that policy.
“The implementation of a program, whether it was good or bad, is not a crime against humanity,” Duterte said.
“That is not a crime against the Filipino population. How a program is implemented, whether there were mistakes, errors, it was a bad program, is not a crime against humanity. That is the crime that they are saying that [former] President Duterte has done to the Filipino people,” she added.
Duterte also challenged allegations that all individuals identified as victims in complaints before the ICC were killed as a result of the anti-drug campaign, citing the prevalence of gun violence in the Philippines.
“I have a husband. My husband has a mistress. I can hire a gunman for 5,000 pesos to kill the mistress. That is how — for 5,000 pesos, that is how bad gun violence in the Philippines is. And that is, again, yes, EJK. So how can you say that all your listed victims, all your listed complainants are supposed victims of the drug war?” she said.
The Vice President appealed for his father’s immediate release from detention, noting his health condition and the delays in the ICC proceedings without significant developments in the case over the past year.
She insisted that the 81-year-old former President does not pose a flight risk, would not obstruct investigations, and could not continue committing the alleged crimes because the anti-drug campaign was a government program implemented during his administration.
She added that if authorities wanted to pursue cases involving alleged extrajudicial killings, they could instead file them before Philippine courts.
“They are holding an 81-year-old who cannot make his own bed, who cannot even clean his own room, who has bedsores and who has so many aches and pains because of old age. For who? For the reputation of ICC? For Marcos? For Trillanes? For money? For what? For whose interest is the ICC serving now?” said the Vice President.
The ICC has accused former President Duterte of crimes against humanity in connection with killings allegedly committed during his administration's anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Prosecutors allege that the killings formed part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians, an allegation Duterte and his allies have consistently denied. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)