Duterte to go to Senate drug probe; Congress bashed for complicity

By John Victor D. Ordoñez and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporters

SENATOR and former national police chief Ronald M. dela Rosa on Tuesday said ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte told him he would attend a Senate hearing next week looking into his deadly war on drugs.

“The former President told me that he is going to attend the Senate hearing regardless of who is presiding,” he told reporters in a Viber message.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” L. Pimentel III told a news briefing on Monday that he is ready to lead a Senate probe into the Duterte government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

“My hope is that there will be a clear, peaceful and comprehensive exchange of views and providing information that will not lead to any kind of fight, confrontation and hot temper,” Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero told a news briefing on Tuesday.

He expects the committee to treat Mr. Duterte with the respect due him as a former Philippine President.

The Senate president said he expects close allies of the tough-talking leader like Mr. Dela Rosa and Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go to perform their duties as lawmakers during the investigation despite their ties with Mr. Duterte.

“When it comes to the point (during the investigation) that they will share their personal knowledge related to what is being discussed at the hearing, I will presume that they will be stating these facts on their oaths as members of the Senate, without need of actually taking their oath,” Mr. Escudero said.

Mr. Duterte is also under investigation by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity during the state’s drug war. Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin earlier said the presidential palace backs the plan of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to reopen the probe of high-profile killings.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has ruled out working with the ICC, saying it does not have jurisdiction in the country since the Philippines has a functioning justice system and police force.

The drug war led to more than 12,000 deaths, mostly urban poor, according to Human Rights Watch. It added that at least 2,555 killings have been attributed to the national police.

Also on Tuesday, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez said congressional investigations should include sitting and former congressmen who supported Mr. Duterte’s campaign.

“The war on drugs would not have happened if it were not… allowed by Congress during the 17^th and 18^th Congress,” the lawmaker, who served as Speaker at that time, said in a statement. “Most of the members of the House from that time are still here in the 19^th Congress. If former President Duterte is guilty, it only means one thing: Congress is also guilty.”

He accused lawmakers of being hypocritical for belatedly investigating alleged extralegal killings after staying mum during the ex-President’s six-year rule.

“Congress had the power to stop this, but it didn’t. Congress shares the responsibility for the collateral damage in human costs that happened,” Mr. Alvarez said.

“Congress didn’t just fund the war on drugs; Congress legitimized it,” he said, noting that Congress continued to give police their budget despite concerns about the anti-illegal drug campaign.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
In a separate statement, militant group Bayan Muna said the House quad committee hearings should expand its investigation to include the killings of activists who were red-tagged by the country’s anti-communist task force.

“Aside from the fake drug war victims, I believe that it is time that the Congress quad committee start looking into the killings of activists and critics of the Duterte administration who were first red-tagged then were killed,” Neri J. Colmenares, one of Bayan Muna party-list’s nominees in the midterm elections next year, said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the Philippines could still coordinate with the ICC in its probe despite withdrawing from it in 2018, ex-Senator Leila M. De Lima told congressmen at a hearing, citing a 2009 Philippine law that penalizes crimes against humanity.

The Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity had allowed the Philippines to coordinate with international courts investigating alleged crimes against humanity cases by extraditing suspected personalities under their custody, she said.

“Through this law, we have recognized the jurisdiction of the ICC over crimes against humanity committed in the Philippines, even before we ratified the Rome Statute as a binding treaty,” Ms. De Lima said. “Our own law states that we need to cooperate with the ICC.”

Mr. Duterte withdrew Philippines membership in the ICC in 2018 amid criticisms that his government had systematically murdered drug suspects in police raids. It took effect a year later.

The Philippine government “may dispense with the investigation” of crimes against humanity cases committed in the country if an international tribunal is “already conducting the investigation,” providing the state with an option to surrender or extradite the accused to the tribunal’s custody, according to Sec. 17 of the law.

Ms. De Lima’s position is “viable” only if there is public clamor for ICC cooperation, Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a lecturer at the School of Diplomacy and Governance of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“One must bear in mind that despite the fact that we concur to work with international courts should the need arise, countries who are not signatories or have withdrawn from the Rome Statute have the final say on whether they will be collaborating with the ICC or not,” he said.

Allowing the ICC to try the Duterte government’s war on drugs would show to the international community that the Philippines has a “broken legal system,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, said via Facebook chat.

The ICC’s jurisdiction is complementary to national criminal jurisdictions, he said, citing jurisprudence. “Complementarity means that the International Criminal Court may only exercise jurisdiction if domestic courts were unwilling or unable’ to prosecute.”

Ms. De Lima urged the Marcos government to rejoin the ICC. “We must return to the fold of the ICC.”