De Lima says history will judge Duterte’s ‘crimes against humanity’

Senator Leila De Lima on Thursday said history will judge President Rodrigo Duterteafter the President said he will not apologize for the drug-related killings under his administration.

“History’s most notorious tyrants and mass murderers never apologized for their crimes either. Not Hitler. Not Stalin. Not Saddam. Not one of them ever did. Truth requires no apology. Their crimes were never erased and neither will yours,” she said in a dispatch from Camp Crame.

In a Talk to the People briefing on Tuesday, Duterte said he will never be sorry for the death of thousands of Filipinos labeled drug suspects in his administration's harsh crackdown against drugs. 

De Lima, a Duterte critic who has been detained for nearly five years during his administration over drug allegations, said she expected his refusal to apologize.

"The devil does not apologize. If he ever does, it is never sincere and never without an ulterior motive," she said.

In addition, the opposition senator said Duterte owed an apology to the following:

"To the EJK victims of his bloody drug war who never had their day in court;

"To the journalists and other media practitioners shot dead as a result of his threats;

"To the Local Chief Executives murdered with Duterte’s empty allegations and accusations as narco-politicians capitalized on by their opponents;

"To all the lawyers and judges slayed in front of their homes or offices and in broad daylight for upholding their mandate as vanguards of justice;

"To all women scourging the consequences of Duterte’s blatant misogyny;

"To all the human rights defenders we lost because he vilified their noble cause and love for every life;

"To every life and livelihood lost because of his administration’s botched pandemic response;

"And to the future generation of Filipinos who might have missed a better future because of Duterte’s six dark years of Presidency." — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News