VP Duterte repeats false claim denying father’s threats to drug war witnesses

Former President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly threatened witnesses and critics of his war on drugs, contrary to  his daughter and current Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that he never intimidated anyone.

Public threats were a hallmark of the Duterte administration. A 2020 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that his harmful rhetoric and outright “permission to kill” reinforced his bloody drug war campaign.

Citing Duterte’s record of threatening critics, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected his plea for interim release in a 23-page order released on Oct. 10, ruling that his continued detention at The Hague for crimes against humanity was necessary to prevent potential threats to witnesses.

Vice President Duterte, however, insisted during a press conference in Manaoag, Pangasinan on Oct. 18 that her father never threatened witnesses during investigations into the drug war. She said:

Nag-imbestiga si Commission on Human Rights Leila de Lima, nag-imbestiga ang Senate, ipinatawag nila si Trillanes at kanyang mga testigo, wala pong nanakot, walang nangyaring masama sa kanila so makikita po natin na hindi ganyan yung behavior ni dating Pangulong Duterte (The Commission on Human Rights, led by Leila de Lima, conducted investigations; the Senate also conducted investigations, summoning Antonio Trillanes IV and his witnesses. No one was threatened, nothing bad happened to them, so we can see that former President Duterte does not behave that way). [Watch 6:39 - 7:17 ]

She made a similar line in an online interview with state-funded Russia Today on June 26, saying her father has not threatened and “doesn't intend to intimidate witnesses.”  

The former president did not shy away from threatening two of his fiercest critics, former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima. 

When she was the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), de Lima initiated a probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings of the Davao Death Squad. She was later jailed for over 2,400 days on trumped-up charges as senator when Duterte became president. 

Meanwhile, Trillanes had persistently alleged that the Duterte family’s bank accounts received deposits from illegal drug trade.

During the House of Representatives’ quad-committee’s hearing on Nov. 13, 2024 on his drug war campaign, the former president threatened both Trillanes and De Lima, who were invited as resource persons.

He refuted Trillanes’ allegations about his bank accounts, saying he was willing to sign a bank secrecy waiver that day in exchange for slapping the former senator.

Anong kapalit sir ? Sampalin ko siya [Trillanes] sa publiko ?Hindi, ngayon na…Sampolin ko sa poli- sa publiko. [Inaudible] (What’s in return, sir? Should I slap him in public ? No, let’s do it now. I slap him in public). [Watch 35:54 - 36:17]  

He then grabbed his microphone and aimed it at Trillanes, as seen in the House livestream. De Lima and Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, another resource person, was seated between them. 

The former president also made a punching gesture toward de Lima following her remarks about the drug war campaign and his refusal to mention her name in the 12-hour hearing. 

In his first 100 days as president, Duterte mocked drug war witness Edgar Matobato, alleged hitman of the Davao Death Squad, after Matobato appeared in a Senate investigation on the extrajudicial killings in Davao City.

Although he didn’t name anyone, Duterte called Matobato an “idiot” for claiming he had ordered the execution of more than 1,000 individuals in Davao City when he was the mayor.  

Addressing local government officials at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City on Sept. 20, 2016, he said:

So ang puntada ng mga gaga dito it’s almost 1,007, sabi ko napaka-gago naman ninyo. Eh kung talagang killer ako, I am mayor here 23 years. Iyan lang ipakita ninyo sa akin (So the nonsense of these idiots here is almost 1,007, I said you are really stupid. Well, if I were really a killer, I would have been mayor here for 23 years. Is that all you can show me)? [Watch 12:58 - 13:16]

A few months earlier , Duterte threatened to declare martial law if the judiciary interfered with the drug war. 

Reacting to then Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno’s criticism of his decision to publicize the names of court judges allegedly involved in illegal drugs, Duterte said in his April 9 speech before military troops:

If this continues, pigilan mo ako, eh ‘di sige. Pag nag wala na or would you rather that I declare martial law (If this continues, stop me, well then fine. When there is none left, or would you rather that I declare martial law)? [Watch 39:11 - 39:25]

A July 4 fact check of VERA Files highlighted Duterte’s track record of going after critics or drug war witnesses once they were released. 

He had also threatened human rights groups and defenders, public officials and international organizations that condemned the extrajudicial killings linked to his drug war campaign. (JHB)