DFA FOUNDING RITES At Monday’s 120th founding anniversary celebration of the Department of Foreign Affairs hosted by Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (right), President Duterte rebuffed calls by human rights groups seeking justice for those killed in his war on drugs. —JOAN BONDOC
President Rodrigo Duterte said families who lost loved ones in his war on drugs would not receive justice, rejecting calls by human rights groups seeking redress for the thousands killed in the bloody campaign since he took office in 2016.
The President also reiterated that he would not allow policemen and soldiers to go to jail for killing drug users and pushers.
Speaking at the 120th anniversary celebration of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday night, the President again vowed to stop the illegal drug trade in the country “until the end of my term, (up) to the last 24 hours” of 2022.
‘Summary executions’
“If you think that you can get justice simply because you lost somebody who’s a bullshit into drugs, I’m sorry to tell you I will not allow it. I will never agree,” he said.
At least 4,279 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed by police in the antinarcotics campaign from June 2016 to mid-May this year.
Several thousands more were killed by unknown gunmen who authorities have described as vigilantes, or rival gang members.
Rights groups and critics of the campaign say some of the killings were summary executions.
Police deny the allegations, saying they had to use deadly force because the suspects were armed and had resisted arrest.
They also deny activist allegations that they have falsified reports, staged crime scenes and systematically murdered small-time peddlers and users.
Wrecking people’s lives
The President told human rights groups criticizing his war on drugs to also look at how drug syndicates had wrecked people’s lives.
He said he was especially enraged by drug dealers who victimized families with parents working overseas, knowing that the children who were left behind received regular allowances.
“If you were shot and I know you are a drug lord, I will run over you five times,” he said.
He was angry that children who became drug addicts “endure rape, hunger and total loss of human dignity” while their parents labor hard abroad.
He warned anew those engaged in the illegal drug trade that if they valued their life, they should “drop the drugs and drop the arms,” reiterating that he would not allow policemen and soldiers to go to jail for killing drug offenders.
“Now, what will I do? That’s between us. But no one will be jailed. I’m sure of that,” he added.
He asked human rights groups that get funding for their advocacy to use the money “not to destroy us, because for all intents and purposes, if I am really destroyed, I am destroyed.”
In separate statements on Tuesday, two human rights groups slammed the Duterte administration for its alleged callousness amid the rising number of killings whose victims now included three priests.
Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. said the government represented by the President was “seemingly heartless and lacking in conscience” and “intolerant” of criticism and was allegedly silencing dissent.
The group condemned the killings of thousands in the war on drugs and the murders of the three priests who were killed over the past six months.
“We lament that our avowed leaders, the one we voted for to represent us, is also party to these crimes against the Filipino people. Their public endorsement or lack of action and silence condone this reprehensible situation,” it said.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch expressed alarm over a wave of “riding-in-tandem” killings that victimized more than 800 people from Oct. 10 last year to May 21.
It said the attacks underscored the diminishing rule of law it attributed to the President’s “incitement and instigation of killings of drug suspects.”
The group said these killings bore stark similarities to the operation of the Davao Death Squad, the vigilante group linked to then Mayor Duterte. —With reports from Melvin Gascon, Villamor Visaya, Inquirer Research and wires