‘We have to show courage’: the Philippines mothers taking Duterte and his ‘war on drugs’ to court

Relatives of victims in Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ comfort each other at a church in Quezon city in 2019. Many are afraid to speak out, fearing their families could be further targeted. Photograph: Bullit Marquez/AP

On 11 May 2017, Crisanto Lozano set off early in the morning from his home in Manila. He was going to renew his security guard licence, a requirement for his profession. By afternoon, he still hadn’t returned, nor was he picking up his phone. Then the family realised that Crisanto’s younger brother, Juan Carlos, was also missing.

The next day, they heard news that two bodies had been discovered nearby. The brothers had been shot dead during a police operation.

“If they died with sickness, maybe I can accept with a free feeling in my heart,” says their mother, Llore Pasco. Instead, she says, they were killed by police officers who were operating with brazen impunity under the instruction of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/11/we-have-to-show-courage-the-philippines-mothers-taking-duterte-and-his-war-on-drugs-to-court