The Party of European Socialists (PES) welcomes the news that former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been taken into custody, based on the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC). By the orders of Duterte, 30,000 citizens of the Philippines were hunted down, and more than 6000 were killed between 2016 and 2022 during his so-called “war on drugs” campaign. Many of these were extrajudicial killings; the campaign targeted the most vulnerable segments of the Philippines’ population and brought suffering and devastation across the Southeast Asian nation.
PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:
“President Duterte is finally brought to justice for his crimes against the people of the Philippines. The PES was constantly protesting the violation of human rights in the country during Duterte’s entire mandate, and we stood by the democratic forces in their attempt to protect the innocent. The European Socialists raised their voices against the extrajudicial killings of thousands of people in the Philippines, and today, we commend the action by the ICC to prosecute Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity. Justice has been done, and Duterte will now has answer for the crimes against his people.”
During Duterte’s mandate, PES went on several missions to the Philippines to monitor the human rights situation and denounce at the international level the crimes against the people of the country. Together with representatives of the Progressive Alliance and the S&D Group, the PES condemned the killings on the ground in Manila and brought international attention to the issue. Following this action, back in 2018, PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck was detained at the airport in the Philippines and was not allowed to enter the country and support the democratic opposition on the ground. Filibeck was extradited on the orders of Duterte, who currently will be answering before the ICC for his crimes.
