THE HAGUE, Netherlands — As Vice President Sara Duterte blew out birthday candles in front of eager supporters to celebrate her father’s 80th birthday on Friday, the sister of two victims of
As Vice President Sara Duterte blew out birthday candles in front of eager supporters to celebrate her father’s 80th birthday on Friday, the sister of two victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines offered prayers and lit candles for her slain brothers, whom she said would no longer celebrate another day.
On March 28, supporters of Duterte had a picnic-style gathering in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center in Scheveningen, a place known for its expansive beach and leafy neighborhood.
The highlight of the gathering was the speech from the younger Duterte and other personalities.
There was a call to campaign and vote for senatorial candidates supported by the older Duterte, punctuated by singing and dancing, as supporters from different places in the Netherlands and other European countries shared potluck Filipino food.
The grey skies and drizzle did not dampen the celebratory mood, and many went home at 3 p.m. in high spirits. Some even gave leftovers to the media.
About 5 kilometers away, at the back end of a solemn church located in a migrant neighborhood of the Hague, Mira Cruz, with a facemask on and surrounded by activists and lawyer for the victims Kristina Conti, recounted how her two brothers were killed by the police in Duterte’s drug war.
“Duterte’s drug war was never about justice. It was a war against the poor. They went after those who had nothing, those who couldn’t fight back,” Cruz said.
She said she came forward to show that justice was not impossible.
“First, the reality that you can use justice. Duterte’s arrest is an indication that justice is possible. But aside from that, the first thing that comes to my mind is, if the people who did not lose themselves continue to fight for justice, it will strengthen my heart and other victims and their families,” she said during a sit-down with the press.
During the fateful day of May 12, 2017, one of Cruz’s younger brothers was going to work in the south of Manila. The other younger brother asked to come with him.
Her brothers, 33 and 31 at the time, were the youngest siblings of five.
“As it turned out, that was the last day that they would be seen alive, as they went missing that day, and it was only around noon the following day, on May 12, 2017, that my family found out on the news that they got killed,” she said.
“The news didn’t say who they were, but my eldest brother was able to identify them. So obviously help was sought to find out where they were brought, but our long ordeal and agony to retrieve my brother’s bodies started at that point,’’ she added.
