Manila, Philippines – Almost eight years have passed since the brothers Crisanto and Juan Carlos disappeared one morning in Quezon City, an extensive North District of Metro Manila.
In a day, their lifeless bodies were discovered with bullets. But the pain of his brutal murder has continued to chase his mother, he cries Pasco, during all these years.
That morning in May 2017, Crisanto, a father of four 34 -year -old children, had left his home early to collect a license to work as a private security guard. Not long after, Juan Carlos, 31, a collector of invoices of part -time public services, followed his brother outside his home.
They would never come back.
The day after his disappearance, his mother told Al Jazeera how she and other relatives were surprised to know a television news report that her two children had been killed, accused by the robbery police. He took a full week and a strong rate of $ 1,500 for Pasco to recover his bodies from the morgue.
His funerals were followed by years of agony when Pasco lived without hope to do justice.
Then, hearing the news this week about the arrest of the former president of the country, Rodrigo Duterte, about her brutal war on drugs, she was overcome by emotion.
“I felt so nervous and scared, but also excited,” said Pasco, part -time food seller and massage therapist.
“My eyes were full of tears. Finally, after so many years of waiting, it is happening. This is everything, ”he told Al Jazeera.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued the arrest warrant for Duterte, was his last hope of justice, said Pasco, an outstanding member of Rise Up for Life and For Rights, a group of mothers and wives of those killed in the war on drugs in the country.
Pasco told how he had “little or no hope” to find justice for the murder of his children in the Philippines.
On Tuesday, the International Police Organization (Interpol) served the order of the CPI against Duterte at Manila airport, for charges of “crimes against humanity” related to thousands of murders of alleged users of drugs and distributors during their time in power.
Later on the same day, the Philippines government allowed Duterte to be transferred to the International Court based in The Hague.
According to police records, more than 7,000 people died in official anti -drug operations ordered by Duterte while in 2016 to 2022.
Human rights groups say that the real number of murders could be closer to 30,000, including those who were killed by armed men, some of whom later turned out to be undercover police officers.
Duterte arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon, where he was officially delivered to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Amid the criticisms and protest of the supporters of Duterte, the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos JR, said that the surprise arrest fulfilled the “commitments of his country with Interpol.”
Christine Pascual was working on a hairdressing when he heard the news about Duterte's arrest.
“My client was wondering why I was crying as I was combing,” Pascual told Al Jazeera, and added that the memories of his late son, Joshua Pascual Laxamana, 17, ran back at that time.
“I went through so much anguish and pain from the moment Joshua was killed until I began to demand justice for his death,” he said.
Laxamana, a professional online player, headed home from a tournament in northern Philippines when the police shot him and killed.
The records showed that he allegedly shot the officers and tried to flee a motorcycle. But Laxamana did not know how to drive a motorcycle and his family has always maintained that he never used drugs or handled weapons, as the police said.
“For years, we have disappointed that nothing happens about my son and other cases of extrajudicial murders,” Pascual said.
“So we were very surprised to hear the news about Duterte's arrest. We are very happy that now we have to face in court, ”he said, while acknowledging that the two police officers involved in the death of his son would probably never be prosecuted.
“My family will never be the same because Joshua has already left,” he added.
'Unbearable pain'
Luzviminda Siapo, the mother of another victim of the war on drugs, said she felt a feeling of relief after learning that Duterte has been taken to The Hague.
“Seeing Duterte being arrested and taken to prison in The Hague, I feel that I have already achieved a small amount of justice,” Siapo told Al Jazeera.
“For everything he has done, and for all the deaths he caused, I wonder what he will reap in return.
Duterte should also be grateful that he has only been arrested and the due process in the ICC will be granted, something that was denied to his murdered son, said Siapo.
His son, Raymart Siapo, was only 19 when he was kidnapped and shot him twice in the head by several masked armed men. His body was left in a town near Manila's bay.
According to news reports at that time, Raymart had a dispute with a neighbor who resulted in false accusations to the authorities that the adolescent was involved in the sale of marijuana.
A day after the condemnatory accusation was made, the suspicious strangers came to look for Raymart, forcing him to a motorcycle and taking him to an adjacent neighborhood, where he was ordered to leave and run for his life.
Born with deformed feet, the adolescent did not go far when the gunmen proceeded to shoot him.
“I feel unbearable pain losing a child for the war on drugs,” Siapo told Al Jazeera.
Children like 'collateral damage'
The family members of others killed in the war on drugs joined on Wednesday, during a press conference organized by Rise Up Group and the National Union of Popular Lawyers.
In the event, Emily Soriano, the mother of a 15 -year -old murdered son, Angelito, said that although he welcomed Duterte's arrest, he wanted others to be processed and imprisoned, including those who gave direct orders to carry out the police operation that resulted in the death of his son.
Soriano highlighted Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who once served as executor of the main police during the war on Duterte's drugs.
Dela Rosa has repeatedly defended the legality of the Duterte war against drugs. Once he joked that the children killed in the crossfire during police operations were “collateral damage”, adding that “shit happens.”
Soriano said that Dela Rosa and other police officers are as guilty as Duterte.
“Well for Duterte that the due process is granted. He is still enjoying his bed, ”he said among the tears.
“What about my son who was killed? The remains of my son have been rotting in the cemetery for more than eight years. ”
Soriano insisted that his son was not a drug user and that he was in a house led by the authorities, which led to his murder.
During that operation, six other people were killed, including two other teenagers and a pregnant woman.
“It has been a very painful experience to lose a child who is not really a drug addict. There have been so many who came to conclusions that they were addicted to drugs. But they don't know the truth, ”said Soriano.
Duterte's anti -drug policy was also a war against the poor, he added.
On Wednesday at the end of Wednesday in The Hague, the prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, praised the arrest of Duterte, pointing out that “it means a lot for the victims” and demonstrates that “international law is not as weak as some may think.”
“When we join and build associations, the rule of law can prevail, arrest orders can be executed,” Khan said.
Khan also said that his office has been investigating the situation in the Philippines for some years, and added that accusations of crimes against humanity also cover the cases committed before Duterte was elected president in 2016 and, although he was still the mayor of the southern city of Davao.
Khan also emphasized that despite his arrest, “Mr. Duterte is presumed innocent.”
