Former Sen. Leila De Lima on Monday insisted that former President Rodrigo Duterte was the mastermind behind the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that characterized the previous administration’s drug war.
“There is no doubt in my mind that former President Rodrigo Duterte is the mastermind, as he was the instigator and inducer of the drug war killings. The drug war was implemented as an official Duterte program of government when he assumed office as President,” De Lima told the House Committee on Human Rights.
The said panel is conducting an inquiry into alleged drug-related EJKs during the Duterte administration.
De Lima, who has been a vocal critic of Duterte’s drug policies and was detained for several years on what she claimed were politically motivated illegal drug charges before eventually being cleared, provided a detailed account of how these killings were allegedly orchestrated and carried out.
“These killings were intentionally and deliberately carried out as part and parcel of Oplan Double Barrel upon Duterte’s orders as President and Chief Executive from 2016 to 2022,” De Lima said in her opening statement.
She said these actions constituted a systematic attack on civilians and should be considered crimes against humanity under international humanitarian law.
“The 2016 to 2022 drug war is a mere offshoot of the (Davao Death Squad) experience in Davao… What happened was that the systematic (EJKs) perpetrated by then-Mayor Duterte and the PNP of Davao were replicated at the national level when Duterte assumed the presidency,” De Lima said.
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