Duterte drug war victims' families fight back, go after online bullies

Manipulated images, invented stories, hate speech against women and downright misinformation, are among the online assaults experienced by families of drug war victims that escalated following the arrest of Philippines' former despot, Rodrigo Duterte, on March 11.

Family members of four drug war victims, accompanied by Atty Kristina Conti, ask the National Bureau of Investigation to identify online bullies, Friday April 4. [Photo courtesy of NUPL website]

Pushing back, family members of four victims urged the National Bureau of Investigation Friday to investigate the “coordinated online harassment campaign.”

Accompanied by Atty Kristina Conti of the National Union of Peoples’s Lawyers, the victims’ kin asked NBI “to identify the names, addresses and IP addresses of suspected Duterte supporters spreading online threats and disinformation against them.”

The NUPL in a statement, decried the intensified harassments of family members of victims “designed to discredit the victims’ families including their lawyer.”

Sheera Escudero a sister of drug war casualty and one of the complainants, denounced the use of doctored images and videos to besmirch their reputation.

In earlier reports, Escudero complained that her Facebook account had been bombarded with comments and direct messages tagging her a drug addict and a liar for demanding justice and accusing her of being paid to speak ill of Duterte.

Her 18-year-old brother was found in 2017 with bloodied body, hands bound and head wrapped in packaging tape.  

Online tormentors also targeted a mother of another victim.

They created a meme of Nanay Sheila whose two sons were killed in the drug war. They mocked and questioned her being a mother.

But family members of drug war victims committed “not to be silenced” by online abusers and will study legal remedies once the complaints have been verified.

Conti said even her own social media pages had been flooded with "hate speech, expletives and misogynistic remarks".

Conti added they have identified pro-Duterte vloggers and social media pages responsible for the disinformation that triggered the online attacks.

The NUPL said the harassment indicates the “emboldenment of Duterte’s most aggressive supporters – paid trolls and hardline loyalists alike – enabled by a leadership that evades justice and feeds on fear and distortion.”

“By casting legal action as persecution and turning survivors into targets, Duterte’s camp is trying to kill accountability before it can take root,” NUPL further said.

The former president is facing charges of crimes against humanity related to his war on drugs in which more than 7,000 up to an estimated 30,000, mostly poor, were murdered.

He is currently being held at the detention center of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Pinoy Portal Europe

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