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'God never sleeps': Opponents of Duterte's drug war

Pam Castro - Agence France-Presse
'God never sleeps': Opponents of Duterte's drug war
In this Aug. 15, 2018 photo, parents and children from Caloocan gathered in Beasa Libis, Brgy 160, on the site where Kian delos Santos was shot, to offer flowers and prayers.
Akbayan / Released

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs has always faced strong opposition on the home front.

This week, he was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to face crimes against humanity charges.

AFP speaks to four key opponents of Duterte's years-long crackdown against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed tens of thousands of people.

The priest

The news of Duterte's arrest on Tuesday took several minutes to sink in for rights advocate Father Flaviano Villanueva. But when it did, the Manila-based priest told AFP that he immediately thought: "God never sleeps."

Villanueva has spent years assisting the families of those killed in the drug crackdown.

Catholic priest Father Flavie Villanueva, head of "Program Paghilom", a group helping relatives of victims of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, speaks as he stands beside urns containing the ashes of victims during a funeral ceremony at a cemetery in Manila on March 12, 2025. The deadly "war on drugs" that led to former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court at The Hague this week always had those on the home front who opposed it, often at huge personal risk.
AFP/Ted Aljibe

He said he told the widows he works with that "justice comes in different shapes".

"Legal justice is an expression of healing, especially in this situation, where Duterte's arrest is a manifestation of him paying for his sins."

But the killings were not solely the former president's responsibility, he said.

"He was merely the architect. There's also the carpenter, the mason, and the blacksmith. Everyone with blood on their hands must be accountable."

Even Filipinos who quietly applauded the drug war needed a personal accounting, Villanueva added.

"We can call it a national atonement."

The jailed senator

Former senator Leila de Lima spent six years in a jail cell on drug charges she and rights groups maintain were trumped up to silence her anti-drug war campaigning.

On Tuesday, she was in a Manila mall when news of Duterte's arrest flashed across social media.

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte (L) and former senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima (R) attend a senate probe on the drug war during Duterte's administration, in Manila on October 24, 2024. The deadly "war on drugs" that led to former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court at The Hague this week always had those on the home front who opposed it, often at huge personal risk.
AFP/Jam Sta Rosa

"I asked myself, 'Is this really it?'" she said. "I still couldn't completely believe the warrant was there already."

While de Lima said she was thrilled he had been unable to "wiggle his way out", her happiness was muted.

"The wheels of justice are turning, but (I also feel) bitter and sad, because it took an international tribunal to be able to really do concrete things," she said.

Local authorities, however, now had a chance to make their mark, she said, by targeting lower-level accomplices, "especially gunmen".

"They should keep the ball rolling by filing the appropriate charges and prosecuting them," said de Lima.

The forensic pathologist

Forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun said she was driving from Quezon City when it was first reported that there was an arrest warrant for Duterte.

"That was the first time I cried," she told AFP, adding that she monitored the news the entire day.

AFP first met Fortun more than two years ago in a makeshift morgue surrounded by boxes of human remains.

Forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun talks next to skeletal remains of drug war victims inside her laboratory at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila on November 17, 2022. The deadly "war on drugs" that led to former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court at The Hague this week always had those on the home front who opposed it, often at huge personal risk.
AFP/Jam Sta Rosa

Despite being a frequent target of threats, her efforts to determine the cause of death in the drug war killings are ongoing.

"The work has not stopped, there are more families to help... there are more bodies to be exhumed, more referrals to accept. These people are banking on me. So how can I stop?"

After this week's events, Fortun said she feels somewhat safer and is keeping her fingers crossed on the ICC case for the sake of the victims' next of kin.

"We are here for truth and accountability."

The man behind the ICC case

Former senator Antonio Trillanes said his office was "ecstatic" over Duterte's arrest following their "eight-year journey of gathering evidence" and coordinating with the international tribunal.

"His arrest is a strong message to the future leaders... If you abuse your power and oppress your people and worse, kill them, you will be made accountable for your actions," Trillanes said.

But he was also aware that Filipinos were "not unanimous in welcoming this news", and warned that destabilisation remained a possibility.

Philippine Senator Antonio Trillanes smiles as he speaks to members of the media at the senate building in Manila on October 22, 2018. The deadly "war on drugs" that led to former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court at The Hague this week always had those on the home front who opposed it, often at huge personal risk.
AFP/Ted Aljibe

Trillanes, who once told AFP that Duterte had "the mindset of a hitman", said the public should not feel pity for an "old, sickly man" in custody.

Instead, Trillanes said, remember Duterte "when he was ruling like a king and ending people's lives on a whim".

"This is just the first step in the long journey in the pursuit of justice. But it's a big step just the same and we're going to keep our feet on the ground until the end."

DUTERTE ICC TRIAL

RODRIGO DUTERTE

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