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“We are ready for trial. The prosecution has strong evidence to present. Duterte will have his day in court. Any delaying tactics should be disallowed." -- mother of drug war victims
Duterte's anti-drug campaign disproportionately affected the poor and the marginalized.
ICC’s ongoing hearing is important as the Philippine justice system makes it hard for victims and survivors to fight back against a state-enforced policy.
“I filed a case (but) I can still feel that those in power continue to control the justice that I have been waiting for so long.”
“We have longed for the moment when he will face his crimes."
Rodrigo Duterte himself ordered the killings several times before, during, and after his Presidential term.
“For us victims, the confirmation of charges against Duterte is an answered prayer. It is clear to us that the ICC shows the call for justice does not end in the Philippines."
“Today, we have seen and read the names of the real culprits – they who have blood on their hands for implementing a deadly policy. The world ought to know who they are.”
The Court clearly finds that Duterte is a perceptive person who has a broad understanding of what he has been charged with.
“I am eagerly praying for Duterte to live long. So when justice comes, he could feel our pain and grief in killing our loved ones."
Pasco further emphasized that the ICC’s prosecution of Duterte is crucial especially when the domestic courts failed them.
The reality: Kaufman misrepresented both the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) and the Philippine government, spreading disinformation that misled victims, media, and the public.
“What else can we expect from a Senate that includes the likes of Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa and Bong Go, who were Duterte’s lieutenants in his bloody drug war?"
For the families left behind by the brutal anti-illegal drug campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, the prosecution of the International Criminal Court is ‘their court of last resort’. The recent postponement of the hearing about the confirmation of charges, for them, is a delaying tactic.
In a statement, Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said that the bill is “thoroughly self-serving and is a slap in the face of the tens of thousands of victims of Duterte's drug war as well as those who suffered other injustices committed under his regime.”
In a response to Duterte’s petition, Paolina Massed, principal counsel for the victims, said the former president’s interim release “would be hard to fathom for the victims who have clearly expressed the view that he should remain in detention at the Court pending the pre-trial proceedings.”
The prosecution said that it opposed Duterte’s interim release to the country cited by his lawyer saying that it is not an appropriate state to host the former president.
“While interim release mechanisms serve important human rights purposes, they must not supersede ensuring accountability of individuals accused of very serious crimes against humanity.”
“From paramihan ng patay to paramihan ng aresto? There’s nothing to celebrate about the latter policy that does not solve the root causes of the illegal drugs problem, and even aggravates it by opening the gates to further rights violations against the people, especially the poor."
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