Recommendations to file charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte for his bloody drug war should complement ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Bayan Muna Partylist said.
Welcoming the House of Representatives (HOR) Quadruple Committee’s (QuadComm) recommendation to file charges against Duterte and his cohorts on his drug war that claimed thousands of Filipino lives, Bayan Muna first nominee Neri Colmenares said the mega committee’s findings is a “significant step” in the Filipino people’s long search for justice.
“The Quad Committee’s findings validate what we have been saying all along – that the drug war was a systematic campaign of state violence that resulted in crimes against humanity,” Colmenares said.
Colmenares and fellow Bayan Muna nominee Kristina Conti were expert witnesses to the investigations that resulted in the recommendations presented at the HOR earlier this week.
Colmenares however gave the most credit to the families of victims and the mass movement in moving Congress to finally acknowledge the systematic killing of tens of thousands of Filipinos under the Duterte presidency.
“[These deaths] are not isolated cases but are the result of a violent campaign set into motion by the highest official of the country,” he added.
The former legislator emphasized that the HOR investigation should complement, not replace, the ongoing ICC probe.
“We have always maintained that the Quad Comm investigation is a positive step to ferret out the truth in the drug war and complements the ICC probe. We welcome this initiative of the QuadComm and Congress to hold perpetrators accountable, and this should in no way conflict with or substitute for the ICC investigation. Both processes can and should proceed simultaneously to ensure comprehensive justice for the victims and their families,” Colmenares stated.
The families of victims who filed the case against Duterte at the ICC will seriously watch any prosecution conducted by the Executive should Malacanang implement the QuadComm recommendations, he said.
“For them, any process to hold Duterte to account is most welcome as long as such investigation and prosecution is serious, genuine and will not result in inordinate delay,” he added.
The human rights lawyer stressed that there are still many police officers not mentioned in the committee report.
“The DOJ should also prosecute those involved in the Tumandok massacre in Panay, the Bloody Sunday raids in Calabarzon and the Kanlaon killing of 14 suspects in Negros Oriental among other killings done under Duterte,” he added.
Colmenares urged the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to act swiftly on the committee’s recommendations, noting that thousands of families have waited too long for justice. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
