Philippines
National
De Lima: Duterte drug war harsh on poor people; easy on the rich like Peter LIm
De Lima: Duterte drug war harsh on poor people; easy on the rich like Peter LIm
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima said the Duterte administration’s admission that suspected drug lord Peter Lim has escaped is enough proof of the duplicity of the President’s drug war.
De Lima said the government’s war on drugs is bloody and harsh on drug suspects who are poor but is never intended for bigtime drug lords.
“Ang kaso ni Peter Lim, na noon ko pa kinakalampag, ay patunay na doble kara at malaking krimen itong war on drugs (Peter Lim’s case, which I have been pointing to before, is proof that this government’s war on drugs is two-faced and a huge crime),” De Lima said in a statement.
“Madugo lang ito kung ang sangkot ay mahirap, karaniwang taong naligaw ng landas at walang kapit. Pero walang napapanagot na totoo at malaking drug lord (It’s bloody if those implicated are poor, ordinary people who lost direction in life and have no connections. But it never held accountable those bigtime drug lords),” she said.
De Lima, who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) over drug charges, said the government was quick to fabricate pieces of data against her, but immediately dismissed the cases against Lim which is based on substantial evidences.
“Sa akin ang bilis nila umimbento ng kung ano-anong pekeng ebidensya, pero dito kay Peter Lim na may tunay na batayan, dinismiss lang ang kaso, pinatakas pa (They were quick to fabricate evidences against me but when it comes to Peter Lim whose case is based on factual evidences, was dismissed, and he was allowed to escape!),” De Lima lamented.
“What a shame! What a corruption!” she stressed.
The senator issued the statement after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced that Lim “has gone missing” and is believed to have left the country.
In 2018, the government offered a P500,000 reward for Lim’s arrest. He was charged alongside self-confessed “shabu” distributor Kerwin Espinosa and two other suspects.
Duterte, in a speech in 2019, warned the fugitive Lim to commit suicide rather than surrender to authorities.
But De Lima said such statements reeks of deceit: “Peter Lim's case is the real face of this damn drug war.”
“Saan ka naman kasi nakakita ng taong sagad daw ang galit sa droga pero ang kumpare sa kasal at nagpondo sa kampanya niya ay drug lord. Si Duterte lang yan! (Where have you seen a person who presents himself as always seething over illegal drugs, but is a co-wedding sponsor and has a drug lord as his campaign financier? That’s only Duterte),” De Lima emphasized.