Former Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Neri Colmenares has criticized Vice President Sara Duterte after she suggested that someone could be hired to commit murder for as low as ₱5,000, arguing that the remark effectively concedes that violent crime surged under her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Colmenares, who serves as co-counsel for victims of the previous administration’s drug war, was responding to comments made by the Vice President during a rally in The Hague, Netherlands.
There, Duterte claimed that some deaths linked to her father’s anti-drug crackdown might instead be tied to general gun violence.
“Firstly, we were surprised why VP Duterte admitted to the escalation of crimes and gun violence in the Philippines during the presidency of her father. After all, they have been claiming that crime and violence during Pres. Duterte’s rule was down,” Colmenares said.
The former lawmaker also rejected the Vice President’s claim that law enforcement officers were not responsible for the fatalities tied to the campaign against illegal drugs.
“[She] is wrong in declaring that the police were not the perpetrators of the killings during her fathers drug war,” Colmenares stated.
To support his argument, Colmenares referenced official government records and filings submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“If she studied the Communication and Complaint filed by Rise Up for Life in 2018 with the ICC against Pres. Duterte for Crimes against Humanity, we only used those killings admitted by President Duterte’s PNP, which was initially 4,410 killings, and later 6,252,” Colmenares pointed out.
“These are official figures released by the PNP and PDEA for those killed by the police during their anti-drug operations. Additionally, there were many cases when witnesses identified the perpetrators as the police,” he added.
Colmenares concluded that blaming the casualties on crimes of passion or general gun violence demonstrates a reliance on speculation over official police data from her father’s term.
“She may use speculation in her media press releases but not in court proceedings where evidence is used to prove allegations,” he said.