Gabriela Party-list nominee Sarah Elago (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (Facebook)

Gabriela Party-list nominee Sarah Elago assailed on Monday, March 24 the comparison being made between former president Rodrigo Duterte and the late democracy icon Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.

"Mariin naming kinokondena ang mga pagtatangka ni Vice President Sara Duterte na ihambing ang kanyang amang si dating pangulong Rodrigo Duterte kay Ninoy Aquino," Elago said in a statement.

(We strongly condemn Vice President Sara Duterte's attempt to compare her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte to Ninoy Aquino.)

"Una sa lahat, kailanman ay hindi maaaring tawaging martyr si former president Duterte dahil ang hinaharap niyang kasong crimes against humanity (First of all, former president Duterte can never be called a martyr because he is facing a charge of crimes against humanity)," said Elago, a former Kabataan Party-list congresswoman.

She also underscored the gravity of the elder Duterte's charge before the United Nations (UN)-backed court.

"Ang kaso niya sa International Criminal Court (ICC) ay hindi ‘badge of honor’ kundi isang patunay sa brutal at sistematikong mga extrajudicial killings (EJKs) noong panahon ng kanyang administrasyon," Elago said.

His case before the ICC is not a badge of honor, rather it's proof of the brutal and systematic EJKs during the time of his administration.)

According to critics, ex-president Duterte's anti-illegal drug campaign claimed the lives of up to 30,000 people.

Aquino's death in 1983 sparked the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, which toppled the authoritarian rule of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.