Drug War Victims Fire Back at Panelo: 'Nothing Was Shattered — The Prosecution's Case Stands Firm'
Hours after Salvador Panelo declared the prosecution's case 'shattered to pieces,' the victims' camp fired back with a blunt rebuttal: hindi totoo. Human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares said he saw no indication that the defense weakened the prosecution's evidence during Day 3 of the ICC hearing.
'Actually, wala akong nakita nag-shatter,' Colmenares told reporters at The Hague. 'In fact, sa hinala namin na mahina ang ebidensya ng depensa, confirmed. Sa aming sinasabi na malakas ang ebidensya ng prosekusyon, confirmed.' It was a direct, point-by-point rejection of everything Panelo said.
Colmenares dismantled the defense's argument that the killings weren't 'widespread' enough to qualify as crimes against humanity. He pointed out that there's no legal requirement for perpetrators to formally meet to prove a common plan — and that the alternative explanation, thousands of cops randomly deciding to kill on their own, is absurd.
'Hindi makukumbinsi ang korte na yung mga nangyari pala na patayan na libo-libo sa Pilipinas ay dahil masama lang ang gising ng mga pulis sa araw na yun,' he said. The prosecution showed a clear pattern: public vilification, executions carried out openly, and systematic cover-ups.
Colmenares also criticized the defense for describing the scale of killings as 'minimal,' saying it deeply hurt the families of victims. He rejected claims that the case was politically motivated by Marcos, noting the complaint was filed in 2018 — years before Marcos took office. 'Para yan sa hustisya,' he said.
Source: GMA News
