By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (Pahra), Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, and a drug policy advocacy group rebuked Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano after he referred to the Duterte administration’s controversial “war on drugs” as a “pro-life campaign.”
In a Facebook live video on Saturday, Cayetano said in mixed English and Filipino, “So, the campaign against drugs is a human rights campaign. It’s a pro-life campaign, because drugs kill.”
In a statement on Monday, Pahra called the remark “disgusting revisionism” and a direct insult to the thousands of families who lost relatives in anti-drug operations.
Pahra Secretary-General Edgar Cabalitan said Cayetano’s statement reflects “creative storytelling and mental gymnastics,” even suggesting he shift to writing fiction instead.
