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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
April 4, 2025 | 6:15pm
Relatives of drug war victims, together with NUPL-National Capital Region Secretary General Atty. Maria Kristina Conti, speak to the media after asking the National Bureau of Investigation to help probe online abuse against them.
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
MANILA, Philippines — The families of victims killed during drug war have sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after a barrage of online harassment incidents following Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which represents the families, said on Friday, April 4, that it had accompanied four relatives to file their complaints with the NBI.
They were accompanied by counsel Kristina Conti, head of the NUPL's National Capital Region.
“The attacks—spread widely on Facebook—include doctored images, fabricated narratives, misogynist hate speech, and outright disinformation, all designed to discredit the victims’ families and their lawyer. These intensified after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for former President Rodrigo Duterte,” the NUPL said in a statement.
The NUPL said harassment emboldened Duterte’s aggressive supporters, whether they were paid trolls or hardline loyalists.
“By casting legal action as persecution and turning survivors into targets, Duterte’s camp is trying to kill accountability before it can take root. But we will not be silenced. We will keep pushing back—armed with the truth and backed by a growing movement for justice. We helped pave the way for Duterte’s arrest. We will not stop until justice is done,” the NUPL said.
Hate speech. The NUPL is not the first to notice these attacks on the families of drug war victims. Human rights group Karapatan also raised the alarm on the sexist and hate-fueled speech that targeted the families of extrajudicial killing (EJK) victims.
“When women speak up and call for justice for their loved ones, they are threatened with violence, discouraged with lies, and demeaned as women. Many others have yet to report cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations because of this tactic of victim bashing,” Karapatan said.
The online harassment connected to Duterte’s arrest also extended beyond EJK victims and their families. Even female journalists covering Duterte’s arrest have been subject to misogynistic attacks online.
Duterte is currently detained in the ICC at the Hague, Netherlands for crimes against humanity in relation to the drug war. At least 6,000 people were slain in the name of Duterte’s drug war, but human rights groups say that the number could be as high as 30,000.
