Philippine police seek sedition charges against VP, Duterte critics

Philippine police have recommended sedition charges against the vice president and other opposition figures, a move slammed Friday as an attempt to stifle dissent under President Rodrigo Duterte.

Police allege Vice President Leni Robredo, Catholic Church leaders and opposition politicians plotted to destabilize the Duterte government by implicating him in the narcotics trade.

Duterte launched a war against the drug trade when he came into power three years ago. The crackdown has claimed thousands of lives.

Prosecutors have opened a probe into the more than two dozen figures targeted, and they could face trial on charges that could lead to lengthy prison sentences.

The maximum penalty for sedition is six years in prison.

Robredo’s Liberal Party said the police recommendation was clear political harassment against the second-highest elected official of the country, and who is also among the most prominent opponents of Duterte’s drug crackdown.

“The enemies of democracy are behind this because the VP is the sole remaining obstacle to their plan to pursue the killings in the fake war on drugs, sell the Philippines to China and rule the country forever,” a party statement said.

Under Philippine law, the vice president is elected separately.

The case stems from a series of videos circulated online in which a masked man claims the Duterte family is linked to the illegal drug trade.

The others targeted by the police include opposition politicians and four Church leaders, most of them known critics of how the drug war has been conducted.

Critics say the conduct of the campaign could amount to crimes against humanity.

Apart from the anti-narcotics campaign, Duterte has also pursued friendly ties with China in pursuit of trade and investment despite rival claims over the South China Sea.

His setting aside of the standoff with China over the resource-rich waterway has been criticized as weakness by some in the Philippines.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which billions in trade passes annually.