Photo courtesy: Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates
MANILA(May 26) — The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) slammed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano for describing the Duterte administration’s bloody anti-drug campaign as a “pro-life” and “human rights” initiative, calling the statement “disgusting revisionism” that mocks thousands of victims killed during the war on drugs.
In a statement posted on PAHRA’s official Facebook page, the group accused Cayetano of whitewashing a campaign that left thousands dead amid widespread allegations of extrajudicial killings and police abuse under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Alan Cayetano continues to prove his skills in creative storytelling and mental gymnastics. Baka kailangan mo nang magsulat na lang ng fiction,” said PAHRA Secretary-General Edgar Cabalitan.
“How dare you call the war on drugs a human rights campaign when the right to life of victims was systematically denied through killings carried out without due process?” Cabalitan added.
PAHRA said the Duterte administration failed to address illegal drugs through sustainable public health interventions, rehabilitation, and social support systems, relying instead on fear and violence that normalized impunity.
“There were no serious programs that treated drug dependency as a health issue,” Cabalitan said. “The campaign mainly targeted the poor while powerful personalities and big drug players continued to evade accountability.”
The group also criticized Cayetano for attempting to frame the anti-drug crackdown in moral and religious language despite the death toll linked to police operations and vigilante-style killings.
“Napaka-ipokrito na tawaging ‘pro-life’ ang isang kampanyang nag-iwan ng libo-libong patay,” Cabalitan said. “For someone who constantly projects himself as religious and moral, clearly hindi naging epektibo ang mga ipinapakita niyang values.”
PAHRA warned that statements defending or romanticizing the drug war contribute to the dangerous normalization of state violence and weaken public respect for human rights and democratic accountability.
“Go back to school. Study GMRC,” Cabalitan said. “You clearly lack good morals, at mukhang absent ka rin noong tinuro ang right conduct.”
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