DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 October) – Former Senator Leila M. de Lima on Tuesday called on the Philippine government to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) so it can prosecute former President Rodrigo Duterte, who allegedly initiated the deadly “war on drugs” during his term and even when he was mayor of this city.
De Lima spoke before members of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order & Safety, Human Rights and Public Accounts of the House of Representatives (Quad Comm), which are conducting an investigation, in aid of legislation, on extrajudicial killings (EJKs), illegal online gambling, and illegal drugs.
“I just shared my views on the need to rejoin the ICC, kasi you can never tell in the future ano man ang resulta ng ating ginagawang investigation ng Quad Comm na (because you can never tell in the future, whatever the results of the Quad Qumm investigations will be) we might have another tyrant, another mass killer for a president,” she said.
De Lima stressed that the ICC was established by virtue of the Rome Statute as the community of nations recognized the need to have an international body that would “go after the perpetrators of the most terrible crimes against humanity.”
On 17 March 2018, then-President Duterte formally notified the UN Secretary-General that the Philippines was withdrawing from the Rome Statute. The withdrawal became effective on 16 March 2019, a year after its receipt by the UN Secretary General.
De Lima described Duterte’s withdrawal of the country from the ICC as a “self-serving act,” as the international court had launched a preliminary examination of the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.
The former senator also believed that the country could still prosecute the cases of EJKs committed during the Duterte administration under Republic Act (RA) 9851, which defines and penalizes “Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.”
RA 9851 took effect on December 11, 2009, two years before the Rome Statute became binding in the Philippines, following the concurrence of the Senate on August 23, 2011, according to De Lima.
Under Section 6, the “Other Crimes Against Humanity” includes, among others, willful killing, extermination, torture, or enforced disappearance when committed “as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
On jurisdiction, De Lima said that the country, through Section 17 of this law, acknowledges the jurisdiction of international tribunals, particularly the ICC to investigate crimes.
“Para sabihin nating wala na tayong pakialam sa ICC kailangan muna nating ipa walang bisa ang batas na ito (To say that we no longer care about the ICC, we need to nullify this law). However, I respectfully submit that rather than repeal this law, we should now take steps to retract the self-serving act of Mr. Duterte to withdraw from the ICC in 2018,” she added.
Duterte has repeatedly said he does not recognize the international court as it has “no jurisdiction over the Philippines.”
“Davao Death Squad”
During the House investigation, De Lima, who investigated the EJKs in Davao as chair of the Commission on Human Rights from 2008 to 2010, detailed the composition of the Davao Death Squad (DDS) and its reward system, which may have been the basis for what is now referred to as the “Davao model.”
Retired police officer Royina Garma, whom Duterte appointed as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in 2019, said that police officers were tapped to replicate the “Davao model” to implement a nationwide “war on drugs.”
According to Garma’s affidavit submitted to the Quad Comm, the “Davao model” involved three levels of payments or rewards: reward if the suspect is killed, funding of planned operations or COPLANS, and refund of operational expenses.
De Lima said that Duterte, who was then mayor, was allegedly the highest leader or mastermind referred to as “the Superman.”
She said that a team of one police handler and three “civilian abanteros” or hitmen was given an average of three targets every month.
De Lima said that the DDS was constituted as the “Anti-Crime Task Force” during the period of 1988 to 1998, and was resurrected as Heinous Crimes Investigation Section (HCIS) from 2001 to 2016. The three-year hiatus between 1998 to 2001 coincided when then-mayor Duterte was elected representative of Davao City’s first district.
Before he was elected president in 2016, Duterte served as mayor from 1988 to 1998, representative of the first district from 1998 to 2001, mayor from 2001 to 2010, vice mayor from 2010 to 2013, and mayor from 2013 to 2016. Last October 7, Duterte filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor with his youngest son, incumbent mayor Sebastian Duterte, as vice mayor.
The HCIS was an official unit under the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), with office at the Davao City Recreation Center compound (formerly Almendras Gym).
She said it consisted of both active police members and civilian “abanteros” or hitmen, who were rebel returnees.
She said members of the death squad received P10,000 to 20,000 for every victim as reward money but “for special project killings,” the reward could range between P100,000 and P1,000,000, depending on the status of the target.
She said that the DDS logistics and finances, including weekly gas allowance, monthly cash allowance, and Christmas cash gifts, came from the peace and order or intelligence fund of the former mayor. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
