By GMA News Published May 26, 2026 2:12am + Add GMA on Google Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google. Kalookan Archbishop Cardinal Pablo David criticized connecting the Duterte administration's war on drugs as a human rights campaign, as part of pro-life efforts by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, CBCP News reported.David was referring to the statement of Cayetano that was posted on social media on Saturday.Cayetano claimed that Duterte’s war on drugs campaign was a “human rights” and “pro-life” campaign, and said that for many of its supporters, it was seen as a legitimate effort to protect communities."I wonder if he can say this straight to the faces of the thousands of women widowed and children orphaned when their loved ones — on mere suspicion of drug involvement, and without benefit of due process — were murdered in cold blood," Cardinal David said."Countless victims were not simply shot. They were abducted, tortured, then dropped dead in the streets, their heads wrapped in plastic bags, sealed with packaging tape around their necks — left to struggle for their last gasp of oxygen until they breathed no more," he added.The prelate added that Cayetano's statements, under international law, have consquences. "Mr. Cayetano should know that under international law, public statements that frame extrajudicial killings as “pro-life” — that rehabilitate and legitimize a campaign of murder — do not enjoy the protection of free speech," said David."They can constitute “instigation” or “aiding and abetting” crimes against humanity under Article 25 of the Rome Statute, when such words provide moral support that emboldens perpetrators and grants them a sense of impunity," he added.David also said, "Words have consequences. Words have victims. And in international criminal law, words have accountability." — BAP, GMA News