VP Sara to ICC: Present proof of 30,000 drug war deaths

Vice President Sara Duterte wants the names of the alleged 30,000 victims under her father's bloody "drug war" that left thousands of deaths due to extrajudicial killings.

- By RAYMUND ANTONIO

"You have to prove that there were 30,000 victims. So, how can you prove systematic killings of 30,000 victims if you do not have the names of 30,000 victims?" she said in an interview with reporters in The Hague over the weekend.

The Vice President raised questions on the 181 pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution to the defense, saying it falls short of proving there were 30,000 deaths during her father's reign.

'Figure doesn't matter'

But former Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares poked holes into Vice President Duterte's claim.

"As a lawyer I was expecting VP Sara Duterte to base her statements regarding the case, on the complaints and pleadings officially filed in the ICC rather than media reports," Colmenares said in a statement on Monday, March, 31.

Over the weekend, the impeached Vice President was quoted as saying that the crimes against humanity charge against her dad, former president Rodrigo Duterte, won't hold water because there would be no way to prove the drug war critics' claim that 30,000 people died during the campaign.

But Colmenares said the figure doesn't really matter.

"The complaint we filed in the ICC listed 3,427 killed as of July 31, 2018 because this was the number of victims killed as officially admitted by the PNP (Philippine National Police). Our complaint did not state any number other than that admitted by President Rodrigo Duterte's PNP because as lawyers, we want to base our complaint on official figures," said the Makabayan leader.