ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war 'not a crime against humanity,' says VP Sara

Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war 'not a crime against humanity,' says VP Sara

Vice President defends her father's anti-drug campaign, saying its implementation does not constitute crimes against humanity and rejecting allegations before the ICC

Published Jul 30, 2026 12:25 pm  |  Updated Jul 30, 2026 01:39 pm

At A Glance

  • Vice President Sara Duterte defended former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-illegal drugs campaign against allegations of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.
  • She argued that implementing a government policy should not automatically be considered a crime against humanity.
  • Duterte also questioned the ICC's evidence, saying it had failed to establish that all alleged victims were linked to the government's anti-drug campaign.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign was defended anew by Vice President Sara Duterte, who rejected allegations of crimes against humanity before the ICC and maintained that Philippine courts are capable of handling any related cases. (MB Visual Content Group)
Former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign was defended anew by Vice President Sara Duterte, who rejected allegations of crimes against humanity before the ICC and maintained that Philippine courts are capable of handling any related cases. (MB Visual Content Group)
Arguing that its implementation does not constitute crimes against humanity as alleged by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Vice President Sara Duterte strongly defended former President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-illegal drugs campaign.
“How can the implementation of a government policy be a crime against humanity?” Duterte said as she addressed Filipino supporters in The Hague on July 29.
Government's anti-drug policy
Duterte said the Philippine government's policy of zero tolerance for illegal drugs was implemented through the anti-drug campaign popularly known as "Tokhang," but maintained that carrying out a government policy should not be equated with committing crimes against humanity.
“The Philippine government has a policy of zero tolerance for illegal drugs,” Duterte said. “How did the administration of former President Duterte implement this policy? They created the drug war. That is the program. That is the anti-drug program. It is called the drug war, 'Tokhang,'” she added.
Duterte argued that questions over whether a government program was implemented effectively or poorly fall under governance rather than international criminal law.
“The implementation of a program, whether it was good or bad, is not a crime against humanity,” Duterte said. “That is not a crime against the Filipino population,” she added.
She also compared the issue to the current administration, saying governance may be judged as good or bad but should not automatically be considered a crime against humanity.
“It may be good governance or bad governance. It is the same with how President Marcos is running the country right now. It can be good governance or it can clearly be bad governance,” Duterte said.
She further argued that mistakes, errors, or poor implementation of a government program do not amount to crimes against humanity.
READ: 
https://mb.com.ph/2026/07/30/traitors-vp-sara-accuses-marcos-trillanes-of-helping-icc-in-duterte-case
ICC evidence questioned
Duterte also questioned the ICC's evidence linking deaths in the Philippines to the anti-drug campaign, saying it could not be assumed that every victim cited in the case was killed as part of the government's drug war.
“They cannot even say right now if the victims are truly victims of the drug war because gun violence is so common in the Philippines,” Duterte said.
She added that homicide cases may have stemmed from other motives, such as robbery, crimes of passion, or personal disputes, rather than the anti-illegal drugs campaign.
“It can be a crime of passion. It can be murder because of a third party in a relationship. It can be plain hold-up. So how can they say now that all the victims there are victims of the drug war?” she said.
READ: 
https://mb.com.ph/2026/07/30/vp-sara-questions-icc-probe-cites-alleged-conflict-of-interest-in-duterte-case
Calls for Duterte's release
Duterte likewise reiterated her call for the former president's release, saying the prolonged proceedings before the ICC were unjust.
“This is one year past the day former President Duterte arrived in The Hague... It is an unjust delay and unjust detention of former President Rodrigo Duterte,” she said.
She maintained that if cases involving alleged extrajudicial killings should be pursued, Philippine courts are fully capable of handling them.
“If we want to go after supposed EJKs, supposed murders, we can easily file them in Philippine courts,” Duterte said.
The Vice President made the remarks as part of a speech defending her father against the allegations before the ICC, reiterating her position that the case lacks both legal and factual basis while urging the tribunal to release the former president. 
RELATED STORY: 
https://mb.com.ph/2026/07/30/vp-sara-calls-for-immediate-release-of-ex-president-rodrigo-duterte-says-icc-detention-is-unjust

Related Tags

Rodrigo Duterte drug war Sara Duterte ICC Rodrigo Duterte crimes against humanity ICC case against Duterte Duterte Tokhang
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.