Duterte’s VP Daughter Denies Links to Drug War Killings in Philippines

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday denied links to alleged extrajudicial killings related to her father’s drug war and dared her accusers to sue her for murder.

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“In the years that I served as vice mayor, my name was never once associated with this issue,” Duterte said in a video message posted on Facebook. She was responding to local media reports citing a former police officer who linked her to the killings. The officer, Arturo Lascanas, had claimed that he was part of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged death squad when the latter was mayor in southern Davao City.

“Suddenly there was a witness against me after I was elected vice president and I was among the accused in the International Criminal Court,” she said. “To the witness and the people around him: file a murder case against me here in the Philippines.”

The accusations against Sara Duterte come against the backdrop of rising political tensions in the Philippines amid an open feud between her father and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. Marcos and his predecessor earlier this week traded allegations of drug use amid disagreements on a Marcos-backed plan to amend the country’s Constitution.

The international court last year resumed its probe into the alleged crime against humanity under ex-leader Duterte’s controversial drug war that killed thousands. The vice president said the international court’s investigation is an “interference with our sovereignty.”

Amid the spat, Vice President Duterte said Wednesday that while she respects the views of her father, “like my position on many issues, I don’t necessarily agree with all of them.” She thanked Marcos for his “continued trust and confidence” in her as education secretary.

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