MANILA — Child advocate groups gathered in UP Diliman on Black Saturday to remember the stories of children they said were victims of extrajudicial killings during former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody drug war.

Among those commemorated was Kian Delos Santos, the 17-year-old boy killed in a police operation in 2017.

Authorities initially painted Delos Santos as a drug runner, but public outroar and court trial led to the conviction in 2018 of three cops for his murder, a rare case in thousands of deaths in anti-drug operations that the government has acknowledged.

Through the Holy Week traditions of pasyon and procession, participants reenacted the final moments of the victims at each of the Stations of the Cross, which depict the events in the Passion of Christ.

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"So kada istasyon po ay sumisimbulo ng isang case ng isang bata," Trixie Manalo, youth spokesperson of Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns, said.

(Each station symbolizes one case of a child who was killed)

She said that each child has the right to live a decent life, to study, and to play but that government policies have robbed the victims of these rights.

"[K]aya kailangan po nating alalahanin ito at bigyang diin at manindigan para sa hustisya sa kanila," she added.

(That is why we need to remember them and to emphasize and to stand for justice for them)

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Duterte and his allies have stood firmly behind his war on drugs, claiming it was necessary and made the country safer. 

For Manalo, Duterte being detained in the Hague, the Netherlands to face trial before the International Criminal Court is a step towards attaining justice. 

"[P]ero hindi po dito natatapos dahil marami pa po ang dapat managot at kailangan pa pong pagbayaran ni Duterte ang mga inutang niyang dugo sa atin," she stated.

(But this is far from over because there are so many who must be held accountable and Duterte still has to pay for the lives that he took)

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The event was organized by Children's Rehabilitation Center together with groups Salinlahi, Parents' Alternative Early Childhood And Development Inc., Gabriela Women's Party and Kadamay - San Roque.