“Those who run afoul of the law, even if they occupied high and powerful public office, will have to face justice sooner or later”
WHERE there’s a crime, there should be punishment. And where there’ have been heinous crimes, there should be commensurate punishment, including long jail terms.
After 13 hearings from Aug. 16 to Dec. 12, some of them stretching from noon to well until the wee hours the next morning, the House Quad Comm found sufficient evidence against former President Rodrigo Duterte, Senators Christopher Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa, two former Philippine National Police chiefs and two other ranking police officers to recommend the filing of crimes against humanity in the bloody drug war that killed thousands of Filipinos.
That the House of Representatives saw it fit to convene a super panel to investigate—in aid of legislation, it should be pointed out—four interrelated areas of concern: illegal drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and good government and public accountability, offers ample proof of its commitment to unearth the truth behind brazen crimes that took place under the Duterte administration.
Quad Comm chair and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers explained that what began as separate investigations by individual committees “soon uncovered a web of interconnections—a Pandora’s box of crimes and abuses that tested the very foundations of our institutions.”
“The most chilling revelations pertain to the extrajudicial killings that have scarred our nation’s history…These investigations brought to light a harrowing narrative of abuse of power and institutional impunity during the Duterte administration,” he said.
In fact, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said the Quad Comm found that Duterte appeared to be the “center” of a “criminal enterprise” that used the drug war to cover its own involvement in the narcotics trade.
In the Nov. 13 hearing, Duterte himself assumed full responsibility for the implementation of the brutal campaign that human rights groups claim killed between 20, 000 and 30,000 Filipinos. The Duterte administration officially acknowledged slightly more than 6,000 deaths in the drug war from July 2016 to May 2022.
The investigation unequivocally confirmed the existence of a reward system targeting drug personalities and using leftover campaign funds to finance and support the reward system, in contravention of Comelec rules concerning the return of excess campaign funds.
Former Sen. Leila de Lima, one of resource persons of the Quad Comm, recommended filing charges against Rodrigo Duterte et.al. for violating Republic Act 9851, or the Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and other Crimes Against Humanity.
The QuadComm also recommended the filing of charges by the Department of Justice against two Chinese nationals linked to the seizure of 360 kilograms of methamphetamine or shabu in a Mexico, Pampanga, warehouse in 2023.
The panel called for further investigation of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, said to be a central figure in a web of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Moreover, the lawmakers urged the investigation of Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte and five others identified as members of the so-called ‘Davao Group’ linked to the illegal drug trade.
The Quad Comm wants the investigation of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and two Chinese nationals, including former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, for their alleged links to illegal Pogos.
The four-month probe conducted by the Quad Comm is a big step forward in giving justice to the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s brutal war on drugs.
And if former president Duterte is charged along with a few others with crimes against humanity under RA 9851, this would complement the parallel investigation being undertaken by the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
Quad Comm chairman Barbers is correct: “This is a defining moment for this Congress. It is an opportunity to uphold the rule of law, protect our nation’s sovereignty, and deliver justice to those who have been wronged.”
Those who run afoul of the law, even if they occupied high and powerful public office, will have to face justice sooner or later.
Now, will our Department of Justice step up to the plate and file charges against former president Duterte and cohorts for crimes against humanity?
(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)