President Rodrigo Duterte offered his condolences to the family of slain Los Baños, Laguna Mayor Caesar Perez, who was among the politicians included in the narcolist, saying the drug list did not come from himself, but was a product of intelligence reports from drug enforcement authorities, police, and military.
"It's not mine, it was only given to me. I'm not the one who makes the list. I'm not the police. I'm not part of the intelligence groups,” the President said in his weekly nationwide address Monday night.
Duterte apologized to the family of slain mayor Perez, whose son Aldous insisted that his father had no involvement in the illegal drugs trade.
The mayor was shot dead by still unidentified killers last Dec. 3 inside the municipal hall.
"I'm sorry if your father was there. But really, most of those in the list are involved in drugs. Your father might be an exception," Duterte said.
“If you believe firmly that he was not guilty or liable of anything, well it's good. But the problem is his name was in the list,” Duterte added.
Insisting that he did not personally know the slaim Laguna mayor, Duterte said the list was given to him adding “you just have to look for the killers. That‘s no from my office. Remember that you are fighting the forces of the Republic of the Philippines. That’s what I can say to you. That’s not mine,” Duterte said.
In his message directly addressed to Perez children, the Chief Executive said “ don’t know your father. I did not even read the list.
I don’t remember — a cursory reading only. But I did not memorize the people included in the list.”
“I’m sorry if your father was there, but really, most of those are really into drugs. And you believe firmly that he was not guilty or liable of nothing. Well, it’s good,” he said.
“As a matter of an obligation, I had to come up with a name of those suspected so that the public will be aware and prevent their ascension to public office,” Duterte said.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch Philippines has said that since starting as mayor of Davao City and as president of the Philippines, Duterte has used his target lists as a political tool to intimidate people, including politicians opposing him.
During his Davao years, Duterte would read out on television the names of people he accused of involvement in illegal drugs.
“Many listed were later killed by the Davao Death Squad. In the early days of his presidency, Duterte would continue brandishing these lists as part of his ‘drug war’, reading out names and accusing people – including some from the political opposition — of being drug dealers or drug users. Many listed were later summarily or extra-judicially killed,” a statement read by Human Rights Watch signed by Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director.
Robertson was reacting to Duterte’s distancing himself from the “narco list” in which politicians were included. Among them was Laguna mayor Cesar Perez who was shot dead last week.
They said that for Duterte to now claim that he had no hand in these lists is the height of hypocrisy. For him to disavow how these lists were used by law enforcers to violate the civil liberties and human rights of those listed is not only disingenuous – it is cowardly. He cannot now deny involvement in the violence perpetrated against those on his lists when he has used such lists as a public, political prop for years to shore up his popularity and fuel his political rise to the presidency.
Duterte’s lists and the resulting violence are part of what international accountability mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council must investigate.
The proof of violence unleashed by these lists can be counted in the bodies lying on the streets. There is no denying that listing people on such target lists results in the violation of the rights of these people, they added.