YEHEY! THANK YOU, LORD! Such was the collective cry of the democratic organizations with the detention of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte under the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands last March 11, 2025.
It was like the day of great elation and cheers when the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and his family escaped (more accurately, kidnapped being “the SONOBITCH” of then US President George Bush) from the justful wrath of the Filipino people, during the People Power Revolution on February 25, 1986.
Quite understandable, given Rodrigo’s “Crimes against Humanity” as charged—with his evil scheme, dubbed “War on Drugs – Operation Tokhang, Double Barrel.”
With his Police Chief Bato de la Rosa as his main enforcer, beginning in 2011 when he was Davao city mayor, Rodrigo Duterte heartlessly enforced his “kill kill kill” policy on suspected drug addicts, pushers and even petty criminals.
And, installed as president in 2016, Duterte aggressively pursued the same bloody program, also along with his main aide, Bong Go, several PNP generals, and their amply-rewarded PNP/AFP ground troops.
For the EJK victims’ families, Rodrigo Duterte’s imprisonment by the ICC is just the first step in their long agonizing wait for justice.
MORE THAN 30,000
As of today, even under the current administration of President Bongbong Marcos and VP Sara Duterte, the same killing-spree program, with the active involvement of the NTF-ELCAC, continues with victims of extra judicial killings (EJKs) estimated overall now to number more than 30,000, which include more than a hundred children and youths.
Quite understandable too, that Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s rabid followers and supporters expressed their objections to his arrest by the ICC. Among them were the likes of senators Bato de la Rosa, Bong Go, and Robin Padilla, Rodrigo’s former SPOX Salvador Panelo, Rodrigo’s partner Honeylet, daughter Kitty, sons Polong and Baste, and former SPOX Harry Roque, who happened to have been served a warrant of arrest by the Congress’ Quad committee on Good Governance, but managed to escape to the Hague, Netherlands.
Of course, daughter VP Sara Duterte followed his father to the Hague to give her personal support.
PRAYER RALLY FOR A NON-BELIEVER?
Moreover, his fellow Davaoeño supporters immediately organized mobilizations, calling them “prayer rallies,” as if they did not agree to their idol’s notorious proclamation to the Filipino people that “God is stupid!”
These protest actions of the diehard Duterte followers calling for “bring PRRD back home,” claiming he was “kidnapped” by the ICC can only be understood as pathetic. They were claiming that he was denied his legal rights as a Filipino to be afforded healthcare, given her old age, and not given an opportunity to have a lawyer as he was being hauled off to a waiting PNP van.
Couldn’t these supporters, especially the likes of Rodrigo Duterte’s former spokesperson, lawyer Salvador Panelo and his self-proclaimed lawyer Silvestre Bello, and faithful assistant Bong Go, simply recall that the more than 30,000 EJK victims were denied due process, and in fact heartlessly dealt the death sentence with gunfire or knives, despite pleas of mercy from their loved ones?
Do these Duterte supporters have any conscience, or they simply firmly believe and faithfully practice “Dudirty’s” culture of “kill. Kill, kill” because “God is stupid!”?
JUSTICE IS DUE
For the EJK victims’ families, Rodrigo Duterte’s imprisonment by the ICC is just the first step in their long agonizing wait for justice.
This painful waiting for justice has been shared by millions of Filipinos of goodwill.
This, given that the country is currently badly governed by the 70s/80s dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos’ son, Bongbong, and the EJKs architect and promoter, Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s daughter, Sara. “PANAGUTIN si DUTERTE” may soon ring true!
