Cayetano defends drug war anew following ICC raps

Published April 25, 2017 4:58pm

By KATHRINA CHARMAINE ALVAREZ, GMA News

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano defended the administration’s war on drugs anew following the filing of a criminal complaint against him, President Rodrigo Duterte, and 10 other government officials before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a video message on his official social media account Tuesday, Cayetano did not directly address the ICC complaint, but instead asked his followers to “believe” in the vision of Duterte and his men.

“Isa sa parating in-i-issue ay yung war on drugs pero maraming hindi nakakaalam that kung three or four million ang apektado sa drugs o drug dependents, ibig sabihin, out of 17 million families na Filipino, one-third nito is dealing with a dependent in their family,” Cayetano said.

“It is a gross human rights violation if we do not do anything about it. Ako, ang paniniwala ko talaga, it’s a matter of explaining to the rest of the world that the language used by the President is the language that is known or acceptable or napapakinggan ng mga kriminal, ng mga sindikato, ng mga drug lords,” he added.

He said these issues will be tackled during the upcoming Periodic Universal Review of human rights records in Geneva next month.

Cayetano further said that Duterte is “sincere” in fulfilling his plans for the country during his six-year administration.

“Believe in the President’s vision, in the President’s sincerity. Sobrang sipag ng ating Pangulo, sobra ang dedication na maging katotohanan ang lahat ng planong it,” he said.

“And let’s believe in the President’s men, we’re not perfect. Hindi natin sinasabi na perfect lahat ng mga departamento, may mga taong tumutulong from the House of Representatives, Senate and Judiciary, and of course, the Executive department, everyone’s trying their best,” Cayetano said.

In the complaint filed by lawyer Jude Sabio, legal counsel of confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, before the ICC, Cayetano was alleged to be criminally liable for “aiding and abetting the killings brought by the war on drugs through his speeches and public pronouncements.”

“Despite the increasing number of deaths due to the war on drugs, Senator Cayetano has been denying the existence of extra-judicial killings and encouraging Pres. Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’,” Sabio said.

The complaint further alleged that Cayetano “schemed” for the removal of Senator Leila de Lima as the chairperson of the Senate justice and human rights committee, to be replaced by Senator Richard Gordon.

Gordon was also included in the complaint for authoring a committee report that concluded that the rampant killings allegedly perpetrated by members of the police force are not state-sponsored.

Also charged before the ICC were PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Solictor General Jose Calida, and National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran, among others. — RSJ, GMA News

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/608327/cayetano-defends-drug-war-anew-following-icc-raps/story