MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte should be charged for crimes against humanity over the killings of about 30,000 people in the name of his war on drugs, four committees of the House of Representatives officially recommended on Wednesday, December 18.

Play Video

Duterte’s allies, senators Ronald dela Rosa and Bong Go, should be charged with him, said Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Ace Barbers in a plenary speech on Wednesday, relaying the content of the quad committee’s progress report. The quad committee hearings will resume in 2025.

The House adopted the quad committee report immediately after the speeches of committee co-chairpersons.

“The quad comm recommends the filing of appropriate charges against…perpetrators of crimes against humanity under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9581 or the Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity — former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa, Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, former PNP chief Oscar David Albayalde, former PNP chief Debold Sinas, Police Colonel Royina Garma, Police Colonel Edilberto Leonardo, and Hermina ‘Muking’ Espino,” said Barbers.

Section 6 of the International Humanitarian Law or the IHL defines other crimes against humanity as “any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” Willful killing is included in the said acts.

While the report, even if it becomes final, is not a guarantee that complaints will indeed be filed, it is a strong political message from the House of Representatives that coincides with the fallout of the Marcos-Duterte alliance. The question on filing will fall on either victims, groups with legal standing, or government agencies that have motu proprio powers like the National Bureau of Investigation or the Commission on Human Rights.

The progress report officially adopts the findings that “witness testimonies, corroborated by evidence, revealed a system that incentivized the killing of suspected drug personalities — a system modeled after the so-called Davao Template and replicated nationwide.”

The Davao Template is allegedly a system of giving rewards for kills, which Garma, a retired police who made her name in Davao City, revealed in a shocking testimony against her long-time principal, Duterte. Garma left the country after this testimony, but was arrested in California, USA. The United States had earlier already canceled Garma’s visa, supposedly as part of American sanctions on human rights violators.

The ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into alleged crimes against humanity in the drug war and killings by the Davao Death Squad has already identified persons under suspicion, among them Dela Rosa, Albayalde, and Leonardo. Garma said Leonardo was the chief strategist of the Davao template.

Espino, an aide in Go’s office in Malacañang during the Duterte presidency, allegedly took care of disbursing the amounts.

In two testimonies made to the Senate and the quad committee, Duterte admitted to bits and pieces of this template, although denying the system as a whole. For example, Duterte admitted that he would give police officials cash allowances for operations, and would give tips “for the boys” for big cases solved, not necessarily to kill, he said. He also admitted to teaching cops to goad suspects to fight back, so they would have a reason to shoot.

“The investigations brought to light a harrowing narrative of abuse of power and institutional impunity during the Duterte administration,” said Barbers.

Former senator Leila de Lima, a former justice secrtary and human rights chairperson who was detained for seven years on now dismissed drug charges, had earlier recommended that the IHL be used by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a legal ground to officially cooperate with the ICC. Marcos’ strongest stance on this was saying that it would let the ICC try to enforce, but without any official government help. But if Interpol wants to arrest, Malacañang said, the Philippines would be forced to cooperate as an Interpol member.

Aside from alleged IHL violations, the quad committee said Duterte, Garma, and Leonardo should also be charged for being “co-conspirators in the murder” of three Chinese businessmen who were killed inside the Davao Penal Colony in 2016.

“There is no rhyme or reason for such diabolical attacks on the sanctity of life of every human being. But it was president Duterte himself who provided legal cover for those killings. The narrative of ‘nanlaban’ or fought back became the legal justification for these operations as PRRD himself encouraged officers to provoke suspects into resisting arrest,” quad co-chair Bienvenido Abante added in an impassioned speech. – with reports from Dwight de Leon/Rappler.com