By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – “President Rodrigo Duterte must be punished.”
This is the reaction of Llore Pasco of Rise for Rights and for Life following the revelations of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Royina Garma during the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearing on Friday, Oct. 11.
Garma, who also served as Cebu City police chief under Duterte’s administration, narrated that the latter contacted her looking for someone in the Philippine National Police to “implement war on drugs on a national scale, replicating the Davao model.”
“Everyone who spoke at the hearing has emphasized that it is Duterte and his accomplices that should be held accountable for implementing the fake ‘war on drugs,’” Pasco told Bulatlat in an online interview.
The eighth hearing of the quad committee was also attended by relatives of drug war victims from Cebu. They also testified and narrated their experiences during the implementation of the war on drugs of the Duterte administration.
At the hearing, Garma said that Duterte wanted to implement the Davao model on a national scale which involved payments and rewards.
According to Garma, “the Davao model involved three levels of payments of rewards. First is the reward if the suspect is killed. Second is the funding of planned operations. Third is the refund of operational expenses.”
Garma, as indicated in her affidavit, also served as a station commander in Davao during Duterte’s term as mayor of the city. She apologized to the relatives of the victims for her “officers’ shortcomings.”
“Her apology, especially to the people of Cebu, should come with sincerity. She should take responsibility and accountability,” said Amy Jane Lee, also of the Rise Up for Life and Rights in reaction to Garma’s testimony at the quad committee hearing.
“It is true that her daughter is alive, but what about the children of the victims (who were killed under her term as police chief in Cebu. She greatly benefited from that reward,” Lee said. Lee’s husband was killed in 2017 by men riding in tandem.
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay also said that Garma’s testimony “bolsters the observations of kin of victims of extrajudicial killings, communities and rights groups on the direct role of Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police in the mass murder of thousands in their sham drug war.”
Palabay also added that Garma’s account also “affirms the assertion that the government incentivized the police to undertake and legitimize the state-sanctioned killings of the poor.”
Palabay called on the court to “issue a warrant of arrest against Duterte and all those who perpetrated the mass murder of Filipinos through the war on drugs campaign.”
For Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), “the police went on a killing spree because the commander-in-chief was rewarding those who were carrying out the notorious ‘death squad’ template in Davao.”
Bayan added that there is now enough evidence to directly link Duterte to gruesome killings that terrorized urban poor communities.
“At the very least, Duterte and his trusted subordinates in the Cabinet and the police should be held liable for crimes against humanity,” the group added.
‘Davao model also used against critics’
Meanwhile, Bayan said that Duterte’s “deadly legacy” was not limited to drug-related killings. They said that the investigation should also look into the extrajudicial killings that targeted activists, lawyers, journalists, workers, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and revolutionary leaders.
“These activists and human rights defenders were first demonized and red-tagged by Duterte before they became victims of Tokhang-style killings,” said Bayan.
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“Was there also a reward system for soldiers and police who arrested and killed the so-called ‘enemies of the state’? Was the ‘Davao template’ adopted in mobilizing state forces to target activists, critics, and suspected communist leaders?” the group asked.
The group added, “It is infuriating that instead of being made accountable for these ghastly crimes, Duterte and his ilk had the gall to ask the public to return them to power. They should be spending the rest of their time behind bars and not holding positions in public office where they can use taxpayers’ money to commit more lies and crimes.”
They also condemned Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who, they said, “colluded with Duterte in hiding the truth and blocking the pursuit of justice when he assumed the presidency.”
It will be remembered that Marcos Jr. has been firm in his stand in assisting the International Criminal Court in its investigation of Duterte’s drug war. https://time.com/6339369/philippines-marcos-duterte-drug-war-icc-probe/
“But their selfish maneuver for consolidation of power has pitted them against one another. This and the continuing clamor for truth and accountability have prompted various individuals to confess their crimes and to reveal the truth about the criminal activities under the Duterte presidency,” Bayan said.
‘Will continue to fight’
For Pasco, the quad committee hearing has given them the platform to speak about how they lost their loved ones.
“We are relieved that in this way, our voices were heard in our quest for justice,” Pasco told Bulatlat.
Pasco’s two sons were also killed in Duterte’s war on drugs.
She said they are grateful for those who worked for them to speak in venues like the quad committee hearing.
To recall, some of the cases that are taken into courts by relatives of the victims of drug related killings were not progressing while some families cannot file charges as their loved ones were killed by unidentified gunmen. With this, the family has opted to file a complaint with the ICC.
According to their counsel, the ICC’s investigation of Duterte’s war on drugs is ongoing.
“Thank you to them; we gained courage, and our fears and anxieties were eased as we spoke the truth,” she said. (RVO)
