As Duterte cries ‘old, frail,’ threats persist vs drug war victims’ kin in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines – “Dapat iapil mog patay tanan (You should all be killed),” netizen Alfredo Munio wrote in the comments thread of Rappler’s social media post of a gathering of drug war victims, their families, and human rights advocates in Cebu City on Monday, February 23.

In the same thread, netizen Joseph Mendoza said, “Adik patayin (Kill the addicts).” 

The gathering, led by the National Union of People’s Lawyers and rights groups Rise UP, Karapatan, and Hustisya, was held at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Center for Development Education and Training in Cebu City. 

The groups conducted a watch party of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) pre-trial hearing to confirm the charges of crimes against humanity against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

WATCH PARTY. Families of drug war victims and concerned rights advocates watch the first day of the International Criminal Court’s confirmation of charges hearing against former president Rodrigo Duterte. Photo by Jacqueline Hernande/Rappler

There, families recollected how they lost their loved ones to Duterte’s drug war which saw the implementation of the Oplan Tokhang (knock and plead) in towns and cities, mostly in impoverished areas.

Many of the families shared that even after the former president was detained at The Hague in the Netherlands since his arrest in March 2025, they still receive threats and intimidation. The comments thread of the post on the gathering attested to this.

“Mao ra man gihapon (It’s still the same),” Raquel Lopez told Rappler on Monday evening.

Raquel is the mother of Rabby Lopez who was killed during a police anti-drug operation in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, on October 4, 2018. Rabby was shot three times inside his room where he was supposedly sleeping.

During the 2024 congressional probes into the human rights violations of the drug war, Lopez, in her sworn statement, said that Royina Garma, Cebu City police chief during Duterte’s presidency, went to Barangay Ermita and allegedly scolded the family for holding a wake for Rabby.

Raquel is disappointed that Duterte was allowed to not appear before the court for the confirmation of charges hearing, especially after all that their family had to endure.

He was very brave because he was still president, but now, not anymore — he’s run out of courage,” Raquel said in Cebuano.

‘Hypocrite’

Elizabeth Ordoña lambasted the former president for saying that he was too “old and frail” to attend his hearing.

In a letter submitted to the ICC on his behalf on Wednesday, February 18, Duterte said that he did not wish to attend legal proceedings that he would “forget within minutes.”

“I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me,” Duterte’s letter read.

Ordoña lost her nephew, Romy Ramas, when he was shot to death by his fellow prisoner while playing basketball at the Mandaue City Jail Male Dormitory on July 29, 2019. On that day, Deputy Jail Warden Mark Tuñacao said the victim had been stabbed and denied hearing gunshots, based on reports from SunStar Cebu.

Ramas’ case prompted questions on whether or not there were attempts to hide evidence of the shooting. 

During the ICC pre-trial hearing on Monday, prosecutors presented several of Duterte’s own statements where he instructed authorities to carry out executions on alleged drug users and peddlers and accomplish them “by any means necessary”

“Diri sa atoa sa Pilipinas, kon dili katambong inig hearing, dad-on dayon og notice. Dapat unta si Duterte, nitambong ato. Diri, bisan gani og tiguwang, namatay na, pangitaon pa man gani,” Ordoña said.

(Here in the Philippines, if you don’t attend a hearing, you are sent a notice. Duterte should have attended. Here, even if you are old, already dead, someone will come looking for you)

Lopez and Ordoña, who have been supporting each other and fellow mothers of drug war victims, expressed their gratitude as legal proceedings are set in motion against the former president.

The pre-trial hearings are scheduled for four days — February 23, 24, 26, and 27. During that period, both supporters and critics of Duterte will be staging their own gatherings at The Hague in the Netherlands, to watch the case and express their sentiments over the issue.

“I’m happy that Duterte seems like he’s going to die in prison,” Lopez said in Cebuano.

And why? Because her son’s lifeless body, she said, was displayed like a pig in a market the day authorities shot him in their own home. 

“I hope Duterte suffers in prison,” the mother added.

– Rappler.com