LUCENA CITY — The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Friday called the government drug war a “big hoax” and supported Vice President Leni Robredo’s call for an end to the state bloody anti-illegal drug campaign.

“It has become crystal clear that Duterte’s drug war is a big hoax,” the CPP said in a statement.

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The CPP noted that soon after President Duterte mounted the drug war at the start of his administration in 2016 “and unleashed widespread violence, the Party denounced it as a war against the poor and exposed its hypocrisy.”

On Wednesday, Robredo called the government drug war as “a failure and not working” and asked President Duterte to allow the United Nations to come in and investigate.

“So this is where the International Criminal Court (ICC) could come in if we do not show the world that we can take care of our own mess,” she said.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo strongly belied Robredo’s claim and tagged it as “bereft of factual basis.”

Panelo said Malacañang was no longer surprised when Robredo again demonized President Duterte’s administration.

He said Robredo “is echoing the lies and black propaganda” of some of her colleagues in the political opposition.

But for the CPP, Robredo’s description of the drug war “as ineffective reflects the sentiments of the majority of the Filipino people who are skeptical of Duterte’s real aims but are silenced and paralyzed by the reign of terror and violence.”

The CPP called on the Filipino people, especially the families and friends of victims, “to unite firmly to demand justice and make Duterte criminally responsible for the mass killings perpetrated under his fake war on drugs.”

“Duterte is responsible for the mass killings of tens of thousands of people in his drug war,” the CPP said.

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At least 5,526 drug personalities were killed in police operations, according to records from the Philippine National Police.

However, human rights organizations claimed that the total death toll could be more than 27,000 to include those killed vigilante-style./lzb

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