The International Criminal Court (ICC) has received transcripts of the Senate as well as the House hearings on the Duterte administration’s drug war, former senator Antonio Trillanes III said last week.
The ICC has been investigating Duterte and other top officials of his regime for crimes against humanity, due to the alleged systematic extrajudicial killings (EJKs) perpetrated by the police in the name of the drug war.
Government records say around 6,000 were killed, while human rights groups insist the number was as many as 30,000, including vigilante killings.
Those vigilante killings were reportedly perpetrated by a so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) that initially operated within Davao City when Duterte was mayor but also spread throughout the Philippines during his six-year administration.
At the Senate hearing last week, Duterte surprised the lawmakers when he admitted that there was indeed a DDS and that one of the senators present was one of its heads.
Duterte pointed to former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa, who had earlier stated that no such squad existed.
Duterte clarified that the DDS was a generic term used to describe police operatives who were part of the drug war.
The PNP said last week that it would conduct a probe on Duterte’s damaging testimony, possibly reopening cold cases of EJKs linked to the previous administration.
Trillanes has been saying for the last few months that the ICC was preparing to ask Interpol to issue a warrant of arrest against Duterte. This, as the current administration opted to take the same stand as its predecessor that the Philippine judicial system was sufficient to serve justice to survivors and families of the victims of the drug war.
Duterte’s claiming full responsibility may have changed the situation, as he also said that the police should not be charged for the EJKs. The former president also said he was willing to be jailed for his actions.
Trillanes said, “the transcript of the Senate hearing where the evil (Duterte) admitted a lot of EJKs was transmitted now to the ICC.”
The same was true for the (House) Quad committee transcripts. These were earlier transmitted “and all were duly received,” said the former senator.
Since his testimony was given under oath, Duterte’s words can be used “either for or against him,” said Senate President Francis Escudero.
Sen. Dela Rosa agreed that his former boss’s testimony can be used against him.
At the lower house of the country’s bicameral Congress, retired police colonel Royina Garma testified that a “Davao model” of EJKs was used on a national scale, whereby police were rewarded with cash incentives for every drug suspect killed. These ranged from a low of PHP20,000 to a high of P` million, she said.
Police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido likewise told the House body of a scheme of payouts to hitmen for neutralizing drug suspects, with the funds released by then presidential special adviser and now Sen. Bong Go.
In his testimony, Duterte also admitted advising the police to goad the drug suspects to fight back when they were being arrested. This would give the cops a reason to kill the suspects, he said.
But Duterte denied that cash rewards were given to police who killed drug suspects, only saying that he would invite them to dinner after a successful operation.
For his part, Go said he had no part in the Duterte administration’s police operations. As special assistant, he only handled the scheduling of Duterte’s appointments, until he was elected senator.
Lawyer Neri Colmenares said in owning the killings, Duterte had actually implicated the police.
Colmenares said he now expects the ICC to terminate its investigation and issues a warrant of arrest against Duterte “maybe before the end of this year.”
