A faith-based group in the Philippines decried what it described as President Rodrigo Duterte’s attempt to wash his hands of the blood of victims of the government’s “war” on narcotics.
The president this week said he ordered a “discreet” probe into alleged extrajudicial killings and found out that the murders were not state-sponsored but were a result of conflicts between rival gangs.
“There was a time when I conducted a discreet hearing. The information that reached me was that sometimes there is a rivalry of the turf — their territory, as to who was controlling it,” said Duterte.
He cited it as one of the reasons why suspected drug peddlers ended up dead. “Someone ran away with the money, [drugs] were stolen at the street level,” he said.
“They said it was the police [who did it]. But, you know, if I were a policeman, I would go all out. Why would I get from those at the street level?” said Dutrerte.
Official government data show that nearly 6,000 people have been killed in the government’s war on drugs since July 2016.
Rights groups and media institutions, however, reported that there were already more than 30,000 people who have died in the campaign against illegal narcotics.
The faith-based group Rise Up for Life and for Rights said Duterte was only trying to “wash his bloody hands” by claiming that gangs were behind the drug-related killings.
Father Gilbert Billena, spokesperson of the group, said Duterte’s recent pronouncements aimed “to obfuscate the glaring truth” behind the war on drugs campaign.
He described Duterte’s statement as “a toxic mix of hubris and blather,” adding that his policy on illegal drugs has “incited systemic and widespread” killings.
“Even if there is a segment of drug-related murders resulting from gang-turfing and other criminality, Duterte still has blood on his hands,” the priest said.
“Do not add insult to injury,” said Father Billena.
“Do not try to make fools of poor families whose loved ones were snatched away through the brutal and bloody killings that you instigated and implemented with arrogance and impunity,” he said.
The priest said Duterte “cannot be absolved from guilt or accountability,” adding that the country “has heard him ordered the killings many times and no one can deny it.”
In a televised speech on October 5, Duterte claimed that he never killed anyone or never ordered the killings.
“I did not kill anyone. Never, never. Just ask the police here in the Philippines,” he said.
“If I do, I just keep it in my mind because I know that whether I like it or not, there is a war going on. I cannot stop the killing of criminals and the killing of my soldiers and policemen,” he added.
His recent statement contradicted his claims in December 2016, when he admitted in front of members of the business sector that he killed suspected criminals when he was still mayor of Davao.
In November 2017 during his visit to Vietnam, Duterte also claimed that he killed a teenager when he was just 16 years old.
In July, during his State of the Nation Address, Duterte urged Congress to enact a law reviving the death penalty for illegal drug offenders.
Father Billena told LiCAS.news that the Philippine government “cannot hide the truth” behind the thousands of people who were killed in the war on drugs campaign.
