The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the Filipino people in marking today the fifth anniversary of the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, who was falsely accused of being a peddler of illegal drugs and extrajudicially killed in a so-called anti-drug operation.

Today, we give special remembrance to the more than one hundred children and minors, in addition to Kian, who were killed under the bogus drug war.

The killing of Kian put a spotlight on the thousands of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the Duterte regime under its so-called drug war. Two police officers were convicted for the killing of Kian, yet justice is not fully attained, not for Kian, nor for the tens of thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings by police and state-sponsored vigilantes.

For six years, Duterte carried out a sham drug war to establish himself as the top protector of illegal drugs in the country. He ordered the police to carry out widespread killings with impunity. Around 30,000 people, mostly small-time street peddlers and users in urban poor communities, are estimated to have been killed in the six-year campaign of mass murder from 2016 to 2022.

The thousands of victims of the “war on drugs” stand on just grounds in pushing for Duterte to be investigated and tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte filed collectively by victims must be vigorously pursued.

Government officials insist that the conviction of Kian’s murderers is evidence that the justice system in the country is working, in order to justify their resistance to the ICC investigation. They cannot, however, deny the fact that no other police officer has been convicted nor made responsible for the thousands upon thousands of other murders.

Furthermore, it is clear that the mass murder was carried out on clear orders from Duterte himself, and his police chiefs, including then police general Bato dela Rosa (installed by Duterte as senator through the rigging of elections in 2019).

Thus, the Filipino people continue to clamor for justice. They demand that Duterte himself, together with his cohorts, be made to face charges before the ICC for crimes against humanity. The Party calls on the people, especially victims of Duterte’s drug war, to unite and carry forward their crusade to attain justice.