Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday defended the Duterte administration’s controversial crackdown on illegal drugs, characterizing the bloody campaign as a “pro-life” and human rights initiative aimed at protecting families.
In a live broadcast on his social media account, Cayetano argued that the primary objective of the anti-drug campaign was to preserve lives by eliminating the threat of narcotics, which he claimed “really destroys families and communities.”
”Ang campaign against drugs is a human rights campaign. It’s a pro-life campaign, dahil pumapatay ang drugs,” Cayetano said.
The campaign against drugs is a human rights campaign. It’s a pro-life campaign, because drugs kill.
The Senate leader, who previously served as Foreign Affairs Secretary and House Speaker under former President Rodrigo Duterte, as well as his vice-presidential running mate in 2016, spoke broadly about the impact of narcotics on crime rates without providing specific statistical data.
”At kung titignan nyo yung statistics, grabe talaga. We’re talking about the worst kind of murder, the worst kind of rape, the worst kind of stealing, cheating, lying, etc,” he said. “So, for many of those who were on the side of declaring war on drugs, it was not about extrajudicial killing because we do not excuse that.”
And if you look at the statistics, it’s really severe…
Cayetano acknowledged the sharp polarization surrounding the issue, noting the heavy criticism from human rights groups who allege that the state sanctioned summary executions of drug suspects instead of providing rehabilitation.
”Because ang sinasabi nga natin, you have to do it the right way. The other side of the coin naman is yung nagsasabing it was a front at maraming pinatay na inosente o kaya pag-addict, imbis na ipaggamot or instead of daling sa rehab, pinapatay,” Cayetano explained.
Because as we’ve been saying, you have to do it the right way. The other side of the coin is those saying it was a front and many innocents were killed, or if someone is an addict, instead of giving them medical treatment or bringing them to rehab, they are killed.
While framing the debate as a conflict of perspectives, Cayetano declined to comment on whether the killings were systemic.
”So, kung nandun ka sa drug war, sasabihin mo, God is on our side kasi ayaw ni Lord ng drugs. Kung nandun ka naman sa side na extrajudicial killing yan, of course, God will be for the right of life. Ngayon, ang question kasi, was it a policy na magkaroon ng extrajudicial killing or not? So, I won’t go into the merits or demerits of those arguments,” he said.
So, if you are on the side of the drug war, you will say God is on our side because the Lord dislikes drugs. If you are on the side that says it’s an extrajudicial killing, of course, God will be for the right to life. Now, the question is, was it a policy to have extrajudicial killings or not?…
Official government data recorded during the Duterte presidency attributes 6,252 deaths to state-led anti-drug operations. However, human rights organizations estimate the actual death toll to be significantly higher.
The defense comes amid ongoing international legal proceedings against key architects of the campaign. Former President Duterte was arrested in 2025 under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant and is currently facing trial for crimes against humanity.
The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Duterte’s former police chief, on similar charges.
According to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), additional warrants related to the drug war investigation are expected to be issued in the near future.