MANILA, Philippines — Two leaders of the quad committee of the House of Representatives have urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file criminal cases against former president Rodrigo Duterte, using findings in their investigation of the drug war killings during his term.
At a press conference early this week, Rep. Bienvenido Abante of Manila and Rep. Dan Fernandez of Laguna said the DOJ, through the national prosecution service, may use the quad comm findings as basis for filing criminal cases against Duterte.
Abante and Fernandez co-chair the quad comm along with Rep. Ace Barbers and Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano.
The quad comm comprises four committees jointly investigating links among the war on drugs, extrajudicial killings, corruption and other criminal activities including those carried out by Philippine offshore gaming operator or POGO hubs.
Abante said the quad comm is ready to turn over its findings to the DOJ, if requested to do so.
He stressed the need to give justice to the thousands of Filipinos killed during Duterte’s bloody war on drugs. Police data placed the number of drug war deaths at 6,000. Cause oriented groups and other sectors placed the figure at around 20,000.
“Willful killings affected thousands of civilians,” Abante lamented.
The Manila congressman said the killings targetted low-level drug offenders rather than major drug lords.
For his part, Fernandez said there are local laws on crime against humanity, citing Section 8 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9851 or “an act defining and penalizing crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity.”
Fernandez said Duterte’s testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee that he was taking “full legal responsibility” for the “successes and failures” of his drug war can be used as ground by the DOJ to file the criminal charges for command responsibility.
At last Monday’s hearing, Duterte admitted maintaining three death squads comprising gangsters he threatened to kill if they would not kill the people involved in illegal drugs, rich friends in Davao City who were fond of killing criminals in the city and the chiefs of police who deemed killing lawbreakers as part of their job.
“Thousands were killed when I was mayor, but they are criminals. I can make a confession now, if you want. I have a death squad. But they are not composed of police. They are gangsters,” Duterte said.
“Do not question my policies, because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do,” Duterte said.
“I have tried to do the best I can to address the problem of illegal drugs firmly and without compromise. For all of its successes and shortcomings, I, and I alone, take full legal responsibility,” Duterte said.
“Everything that the police has committed pursuant to my orders, I will be accountable. I am taking full responsibility, not the police who just followed my orders,” he added in mixed Filipino and English.
Abante and Fernandez said that while they stand firmly against illegal drugs, they are not in favor of Duterte’s policy of killing drug offenders.
Abante said a majority of those killed were drug users and pushers from impoverished communities.
‘Remember slain activists’
As Filipinos remembered their dead on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the nation should also pause in remembrance of the hundreds of activists killed by security forces during the Duterte administration.
“Justice has eluded many victims as the Philippine government encouraged a regime of impunity for close to two decades now,” Bayan president Renato Reyes said in a statement.
Reyes urged President Marcos to address the injustices by holding Duterte accountable for the atrocities committed in the conduct of the drug war.
“It is incumbent on the Marcos regime to address this injustice. It must hold Duterte accountable,” he said.
Rights group Karapatan, for its part, urged the Marcos administration to surface 14 desaparecidos or victims of enforced disappearances.
“Since the perpetrators of this state-instigated crime would wish the forcibly disappeared to be forgotten, it is our responsibility as freedom-loving Filipinos to make sure this never happens,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
Among the victims were activists Elgene Mungcal and Ma. Elena Pampoza, who were last seen in Moncada, Tarlac in July 2022. The latest was Felix Salaveria Jr., who was forcibly taken by unidentified men in Tabaco, Albay on Aug. 28, 2024. — Emmanuel Tupas