THE Philippines’ war against drugs is aimed at correcting the mistakes of previous administrations which failed to resolve the illegal drug menace, Malacañang said on Saturday as it denied the claim of a prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that killings “may warrant prosecution.”
“What is being waged is a social revolution of making right the wrongs that have been embedded over generations and past administrations,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said, reiterating President Rodrigo Duterte’s openness to subject himself to any probe.
Abella made the statement after ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressed “deep concern” to the public statements of Duterte that seem to condone the killings and encourage state forces and civilians alike to continue targeting drug personalities with lethal force.
Malacañang, however, denied the allegations, saying that should the probe prosper, these will help the government to “focus on the second phase of the matter,” which is a public health, social and economic issue, Abella said.
Abella noted that the recent investigation of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights showed that there was no proof to suggest that Duterte knew or ordered of any of the supposed extrajudicial killings when he was still mayor of Davao City.
“The Chairman [Senator Richard Gordon] himself has been quoted as saying, “there is no proof that the killings were state-sponsored,” Abella said.
Since July, Duterte has overseen a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of people dead, both at the hands of police as well as in unexplained circumstances, according to official data.
In his speeches, Duterte specifically stressed that he sees nothing wrong with his threats to kill drug lords and pushers, citing the gravity of the country’s drug problem calls for it.
Duterte also vowed to step down from office if his critics could prove there were state-sanctioned killings.
During the campaign for the presidency, the then-Davao City mayor threatened to dump dead criminals’ bodies into Manila Bay to fatten the fish there.
The President has made no qualms about the cruel fate awaiting drug lords and pushers who choose to resist arrest instead of surrendering to authorities, saying policemen can shoot them if necessary.