The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) stands with victims and survivors of the so-called drug war, and welcomes the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on the basis of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
During Duterte’s reign of terror, his pronouncements and policies did not just condone but actually promoted extrajudicial killings of suspected drug addicts and pushers by unidentified vigilantes widely believed to include active police personnel. Human rights were violated en masse — at least 7,000 and as much as 30,000 mostly poor Filipinos are estimated to have been killed without due process.
The Duterte government also extrajudicially killed 442 human rights advocates, union leaders, development workers and activists, aside from 574 other frustrated attempts. Its campaign of political repression also included nearly 4,300 illegal arrests. These attacks, red-tagging and vilification worsened after it set up its notorious National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which remains to this day.
Duterte’s arrest sends the signal that no one is above the law and that justice will prevail. However, despite this historic step forward to hold accountable those who abuse and misuse power, there should be continued vigilance. “This is just the beginning of our quest for justice from the former president’s crimes against humanity and his offenses against the Filipino people. We need to be vigilant in ensuring that former president Duterte is held accountable and faces the justice he deserves,” says Rochelle Porras, CPDG vice-president and spokesperson.
“We also call on all civil society organizations to press for the immediate impeachment proceedings of Vice President Sara Duterte, for for her betrayal of public trust,” ends Porras.