Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon —Home of Representatives photograph
MANILA, Philippines — Regardless of the Marcos administration’s persevering with coverage of noncooperation with the Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC) within the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Home leaders at the moment are keen to share the findings of the chamber’s latest inquiry into his bloody warfare on medicine—if requested by the tribunal.
Chatting with reporters on Wednesday, Home Assistant Majority Chief and AKO Bicol Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon mentioned that ought to the ICC request paperwork from the Home quad committee to be used in Duterte’s case, “most definitely the committee will comply with that subpoena.”
“Even when the Philippines is not a celebration due to [its] withdrawal, the ICC has already acquired jurisdiction over this case, [and] the testimonies of the witnesses who appeared earlier than this committee investigations are publicly obtainable,” mentioned Bongalon, a lawyer.
READ: How ICC chamber determined that Duterte should face trial
The nation’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty binding ICC members, took impact on March 17, 2019, throughout the Duterte presidency.
“But when they really need the testimonies, the official transcript in addition to different items of proof, in fact in adherence to a subpoena, in all probability the committee will comply,” Bongalon mentioned.
ICC obligations
He added that the quad committee findings would “in all probability enlighten the judges of the ICC to have extra proof for the trial towards the previous president.”
The committee hearings, which ran from August 2024 to January 2025, dissected the conduct of the Duterte antidrug marketing campaign that left 1000’s useless.
The 79-year-old Duterte was arrested by the Philippine Nationwide Police on the request of the Interpol on Tuesday and was flown hours later to The Hague. It marked the primary time a former Asian head of state was handed over to the ICC, the place Duterte is accused of committing crimes towards humanity in waging the brutal, six-year antinarcotics marketing campaign.
The Home quad committee, chaired by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, was initially averse to giving the ICC any materials from its hearings, citing the Marcos administration’s coverage of noncooperation in view of the 2019 withdrawal.
Deputy Majority Chief and Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre on Wednesday mentioned the Home members would defer to the choice of the chairs of the 4 committees that carried out the probe.
Acidre mentioned the panel chairs would seemingly think about the 2021 ruling in Pangilinan v. Cayetano, the place the Supreme Courtroom affirmed the federal government’s persevering with obligations to the ICC regardless of the withdrawal from the Rome Statute.
Probe findings
In December final yr, Barbers introduced the quad committee’s first progress report which advisable that Duterte, alongside along with his allies Senators Christopher Go and Ronald dela Rosa, be held accountable for crimes towards humanity.
In line with the report, they could possibly be charged with this crime below a Philippine legislation, Republic Act No. 9851, for the drug warfare killings.
It mentioned the cost can be based mostly on the conclusion that the crackdown noticed “a profound and systematic violation of (the victims’) inherent rights to life and dignity.”
“It’s nonetheless as much as the administration, however contemplating that the ICC has already acquired jurisdiction over this case and we’ve to emphasise that the fees filed towards the previous president are crimes towards humanity, [over which] the ICC has jurisdiction,” Bongalon added. “And if the ICC felt that there’s no real prosecution of those specific allegations, then undoubtedly the ICC would are available.”
“Even when I’d have most well-liked a home court docket to look into the case, I’ve all of the respect for the competence of the judges of the [ICC],” Acidre mentioned. “I’m certain that justice might be served below their watch.”
He mentioned it could be “uncomfortable” to defer to ICC procedures, however “you need to put it in all the context—as a result of throughout the time of the Dutertes, it was troublesome to file fees, troublesome to discover a lawyer to defend somebody.”
Damning proof
Among the many quad committee’s key findings immediately involving Duterte have been as follows:
- his alleged assembly along with his then particular assistant Go, then Davao police chief Dela Rosa, and former Cebu police official Royina Garma on learn how to scale up the so-called Davao mannequin of the drug warfare for nationwide utility;
- the alleged existence of a rewards system for the killings and the usage of “narco-lists” to focus on political enemies;
- Duterte’s statements earlier than the Home and a parallel Senate inquiry that he was taking full accountability for the killings and that rewards have been certainly paid. For Acidre, it was “strongest and most compelling proof” that the ICC might think about;
- the ex-president’s declare that he killed six or seven “criminals” when he was nonetheless Davao Metropolis mayor.
In a separate assertion despatched to the Inquirer, Acidre additional defined: “When a public official speaks below oath, each phrase carries weight—whether or not it’s a direct admission, a revealing assertion, or perhaps a slip of the tongue.’’
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“His personal phrases, spoken in an official capability, might present essential perception into the insurance policies, orders, and intent behind the warfare on medicine, in addition to its penalties.”
