Press Release
November 8, 2021

Dispatch from Crame No. 1171:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte's latest defense of his drug war

Duterte says the murders committed in his drug war are for the future of the youth of this country. Of course, he said this without mentioning that many of those murdered in his drug war belonged to the impoverished youth of this country.

He still wants to convince us that it is just ok to murder people so long as he says that it was done for the future of the nation's youth. Assuming that it is even legal to kill people to "save" the country, up to now the mass executioner of Davao still has not come out with any proof that the more than 20,000 dead in his drug war has actually saved the country from the scourge of drugs. So what, in the five years of his murderous drug war, did he actually accomplish? That there are now 20,000 dead Filipinos? How can that be a success?

As late as two months ago, millions of pesos worth of shabu were still being found in his own city of Davao, a city which was supposed to be the beneficiary of a local drug war since the 1990s. Nawala ba ang drugs sa Davao sa pagpatay ni Duterte sa mahigit kumulang tatlong libong biktima ng DDS mula noong 1990? Anong kinabukasan ang pinagsasabi niya kung sa mismong syudad ng Davao kung saan siya naghari ng 30 taon ay talamak pa rin ang droga?

Just like in Davao, his five-year killing spree throughout the whole country has not resulted in anything positive in eradicating the drug menace. That this has resulted for the good of the country is just all in his mind. With nothing to show for it, Duterte is reduced to pleading to the people that his intentions were good.

Duterte should have realized as early as 30 years ago that regardless of his "good" intentions, mass murder can never result in a better future for any country.

But the worst part is that Duterte never even had "good faith" or "good intentions". He knows very well that he is lying. He knew that he never solved the drug problem in Davao City, as proven by one of the RTC judges presiding over one of his City's drug courts, who, during a JBC interview back in 2016, admitted that drugs remained a big problem in that jurisdiction owing to the authorities' - particularly policemen's - failure to observe the chain of custody. He was a failure by hook and by crook.

Now, even the Filipino people know what a failure he is. Perhaps that is why he has spent his Administration lining his pockets. If he cannot avoid accountability for his actions by his lame excuses, perhaps he is hoarding money to buy his way into safety, banking on the one thing his administration is good at: protecting those who make money out of the Filipino people's suffering.

Duterte did not kill all those thousands of mostly poor people for the future of the youth, he did it because he had nothing better to show for in his bid for higher power. He knew he was a failure, but he thought he could hide his failure in a flood of blood.

Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1171, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1171

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