President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should reassess his position regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) and consider rejoining the international tribunal, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said.
Pimentel, speaking before members of the diplomatic community during a foreign policy address at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday, also said rejoining the ICC would serve as an “insurance policy” against potential abuses of leaders and in the event the justice system fails.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 announced the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC after the tribunal announced in 2017 that it was conducting an investigation into his anti-drug campaign.
Pimentel pointed out that joining the ICC is an executive action, and that the ball is in the President’s court, as he called on Mr. Marcos to sign the necessary documents for rejoining the ICC.
Pimentel, quoted by a GMA News report, also said his proposal for the country to re-enter the ICC would act as the Filipino people’s recourse against a “killer” and “tyrannical” leader, or when the justice system fails.
“We are monitoring the Quad Com, and here in the Senate, we also have an investigation. We’ve seen that in the worst-case scenario where our systems fail, such as when our democratic system elects a killer as a leader, one without conscience or compassion, and our justice system is slow to respond. In those events, it’s best to have an ‘insurance policy,’” he said.
A former head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines meanwhile said the Department of Justice (DOJ), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) should partner with the Commission on Human Rights to build a case against former President Rodrigo Duterte over the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s bloody war on drugs, “His (Duterte’s) admission was very clear,” former IBP president Domingo Cayosa told Teleradyo Serbisyo in an interview.
Duterte earlier told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that he claims full legal responsibility for his campaign against illegal drugs as he also admitted maintaining a death squad in Davao City.
The former President also confirmed he instructed police to “encourage” drug suspects to resist arrest, thus allowing officers to kill them and avoid the long process of prosecution.
“What we need now is for the police, the NBI, the DOJ and the CHR to cooperate in building a case against Duterte,” Cayosa said.
“Telling the police to make a suspect fight back so they can be shot – how can that be a joke? How can murder or EJKs be a joke? We can understand an isolated case, but 6,000 to 30,000 killed for ‘fighting back?’” he added.
Senate President Francis Escudero earlier called on families of alleged EJKs to file cases against Duterte based on the latter’s admission during the Senate hearing.
Earlier, two co-chairpersons of the House Quad Committee urged the National Prosecution Service to take its cue from the growing body of evidence gathered by the mega panel and begin filing criminal cases for EJKs that the Duterte administration allegedly sanctioned.
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez said the DOJ should leverage the Quad Comm’s findings to build strong cases against those who orchestrated the summary executions of drug suspects, among others.
“If the DOJ asks that we could turn over documents [on the EJK probe], we will do it,” Abante.
The PNP earlier said it will investigate the sworn statements of the former President and re-open cold cases of alleged EJKs linked to the former administration’s war on drugs.
This as former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the transcript of the Senate hearing was already sent to the International Criminal Court.
The ICC is investigating Duterte and other top officials of his administration for crimes against humanity over the alleged systematic drug war deaths in police operations.
At the Quad Committee, retired police colonel Royina Garma said Duterte and other high-ranking officials during his term operationalized the so-called “Davao model” of EJKs on a nationwide scale, rewarding cops for every drug suspect killed with incentives ranging from P20,000 to P1 million.
Police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido also testified a scheme of payouts to hitmen neutralizing or killing drug suspects existed, with funds flowing from the level of Duterte’s former special adviser and now Senator Bong Go.
