PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s critics are talking about finding “incriminating evidence” against him for “admitting” he authored the extra-judicial killings of drug users and traffickers, but Senator Richard Gordon said Sunday the supposed admission was not enough to make a case.
He told Super Radyo dzBB that Duterte’s “admission” last Thursday that he could only be faulted for the extra-judicial killings under the campaign against illegal drugs could be used as evidence.
But the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman said the “admission” could only stand as evidence if accompanied by proof.
Gordon made his statement even as Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday again underscored the Philippines’ commitment to the United Nations’ Declaration on Human Rights.
In his speech at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, Cayetano said the Duterte administration was one with the UN in being “uncompromising on the issues of the rule of law and the protection of human rights.”
As a sovereign state, he said, the Philippines was on track in saving the nation from becoming “a narco-state or state held hostage by the rich and powerful who were ignoring the plight of the poor, powerless and marginalized.
Gordon said Duterte’s statement could be used as evidence, but there must be proof on who he ordered killed, when, where and how.
In an earlier interview on dzBB, former dean of the Ateneo School of Law Antonio La Viña said “When you admit that extra-judicial killings happened because of you, of course that’s a culpable violation of the Constitution.”
La Viña was referring to Duterte’s statement in his speech in Malacañang last week: “Ano kasalanan ko? Nagnakaw ba ako dyan ng piso? Did I prosecute somebody na pinakulong ko? Ang kasalanan ko lang ‘yung mga extra-judicial killing.”
Duterte’s critics claim they have found an incriminating evidence against him that is impeachable and could boost a pending complaint before the International Criminal Court.
According to La Viña, “Clear naman. Hindi naman siya [Duterte] nagbibiro when he said that. The demeanor is very clear. Kasi nanggaling sa mouth ng Presidente. Hindi mo na kailangan i-prove pa. Ang tawag diyan, admission against interest. ‘Yan ang highest and strongest evidence. Because nobody confesses unless they mean it.”
But Gordon said “No person can be a witness against himself. And knowing the President’s atrocious statements in the past, like, ‘I will kill you’ hindi naman siguro yan ang ibig sabihin.”
On the other hand, the National Union of People’s Lawyers on Saturday said it will file a supplemental pleading to boost its complaint against Duterte before the ICC for his alleged crimes against humanity after he made the “admission.” With PNA