Lawyer disputes Sara’s argument over number of drug war deaths

A lawyer of the drug war victims disputed Monday Vice President Sara Duterte’s assertion that the prosecution’s evidence against her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, would not stand in court due to supposed inconsistencies in their evidence and in the number of the bloody campaign’s death toll.

Former President Duterte’s war on drugs saw more than 6,000 killed, based on official government data. Rights groups, however, estimated the actual death toll was much higher, up to 30,000 mostly poor people.

Vice President Duterte, over the weekend, cast doubt on the veracity of the prosecution’s submitted number of 43 victims, saying it needed to name the 30,000 persons supposedly killed in the drug war. She said that failure to do so would belie the allegations of widespread and systematic killings.

However, former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmeras, one of the lawyers of the families of the drug war victims, said the point was not the death count but the brazen admission of the elder Duterte and his marching orders to the police to kill drug suspects which resulted in extrajudicial killings.

“The issue isn’t just about the exact number of dead — it’s about a president openly ordering killings, the police acting with impunity, and a justice system that failed the victims. The International Criminal Court (ICC) exists precisely because powerful figures like Duterte evade local accountability. Whether it was 30 or 30,000, state-sponsored murder is a crime against humanity,” Colmenares stressed.

In a congressional hearing last year, Duterte said he took “full, legal responsibility” for the massive summary killings and the police officers must be spared from liability.

He also told the lawmakers under oath that he encouraged the police to provoke drug suspects to fight back to have a pretext to kill them.

Colmenares, a progressive human rights lawyer, cited previous ICC rulings, such as in the case of Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda who was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of five counts of crimes against humanity in 2019 for intentionally directing attacks against civilians.

He also said that Dominic Owen, former leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 61 counts of crimes against humanity in 2021 for sanctioning the killing of large numbers of civilians, among other offenses.

“Based on these ICC decisions, there is no way the ICC will release president Duterte,” Colmenares said.

In the timetable of the ICC, Duterte’s defense team has until 11 April to submit its counter-evidence.

The prosecution has furnished the ICC and Duterte’s camp with its evidence although they still have until 4 April to submit additional proof.

The 80-year-old Duterte is in the ICC’s custody following his arrest on 11 March in Manila. He is facing charges of crimes against humanity for 43 extrajudicial killings during the drug war, which include Davao Death Squad victims during his term as Davao City mayor.

According to Vice President Duterte, a lawyer herself, the legal counsels of the drug war victims were “stupid” for entering 181 pieces of evidence against her father but failing to provide the names of the 30,000 alleged victims to prove the systematic and state-sponsored killings.

But Colmenares explained that the 43 cases were only a representation of the widespread killings for the purpose of requesting the issuance of the warrant and this did not mean the number of charges would be limited to that figure.