The recent tirade against Duterte, who had been rotting in jail without trial, speaks of the gross injustice the International Criminal Court itself blatantly commits. Where can you find a case where the accused in the deaths of 43 victims in the course of a drug campaign was charged with “crimes against humanity?”

Ten months after he was arrested, the ICC prosecutors and judges must have realized they did not have the number of victims to render a guilty verdict under the doctrine of “crimes against humanity.” They shamelessly resorted to soliciting through online media platforms for additional pieces of evidence and witnesses to buttress their indictment.

And suddenly there was a surge of coordinated campaigns denouncing not only Duterte but individuals close to him, this time charging them as co-perpetrators in the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the Davao Death Squad which they claim was organized by the former president.

The likes of Rep. Leila de Lima have been perorating on this, but 20 years have elapsed and she has yet to produce a single piece of evidence. She is absolutely wrong about the DDS being a creation of Duterte. The undeniable fact is that the DDS was psychological warfare conceptualized by then Davao Police Regional Commander, Col. Dionisio Tan-Gatue Jr., in 1984 to scare off the “Sparrows,” the NPA liquidation squads.

If she cannot find a single piece of evidence to prove her EJK allegations, it’s simply because the DDS was a phantom force. In short, it was a myth.

It will be recalled that to pin Duterte on the EJK and the DDS, then senators De Lima and putschist Antonio Trillanes presented as witnesses shady characters like Edgar Matobato and ex-policeman Arturo Lascañas at the hearing of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Both were declared perjured witnesses because of the inconsistencies in their testimonies against the facts gathered by the committee. They fled the country to escape imprisonment.

The recent derogatory statements and commentaries this time against Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, former police officer Isidro Lapeña, and former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, and the news that there are additional new witnesses invite suspicion.

Is drug money underwriting the expenses to denounce and implicate these people in the crimes against humanity with which the ICC has charged Duterte? It cannot be denied that the surviving drug syndicates not only wish their nemesis convicted, they, too, along with the salivating politicians, hope that with the conviction of the country’s most trusted and popular president, there will be no more Duterte brand of leadership.

They are terribly wrong. There is something drug and purloined money from ghost flood control projects cannot buy. The trust and confidence of the people in Vice President Sara Duterte — the alpha in the family who is known for her natural charm, uncompromising grit against criminals, and intellectual brilliance.