SolGen: Drug war findings should go to DOJ, Ombudsman, not ICC

MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra has recommended that the House Quad Committee refer the evidence obtained during its hearings to the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Office of the Ombudsman, rather than to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“It would be even better if all the evidence gathered from the congressional committee hearings were turned over to our own executive agencies for appropriate investigation and prosecution,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

He noted that it is the DOJ and the ombudsman that have the mandate “to build on the findings of the congressional committees with respect to criminal matters.”

Guevarra said the quad committee, on its own, can turn over the evidence and refer its initial findings to the either the DOJ or the ombudsman.

The role of the Office of the Solicitor General, he added, “will come in much later.”

Human rights groups as well as the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) are calling on the government to grant the ICC access to witnesses and testimonies made during the quad committee hearings on extrajudicial killings.

The NCCP said it is deeply concerned and in indignation over retired police colonel Royina Garma's revelation of a reward system, adding that Garma’s testimony corroborated the testimonies of other witnesses and confirms an “open secret” that the killings “were state-sponsored, planned, committed and funded by the state authorities.”

“Let justice be served and may the responsible author behind the killings and human rights violations in the ‘War on Drugs’ in the Philippines be held accountable. The current administration should also ensure that extrajudicial killings must not continue and human rights prevail,” the NCCP said.

The religious organization also hopes that legislators would plug loopholes in the law that is being used to justify the syndicated killings.

Earlier, the DOJ said it would launch a preliminary investigation into cases of high-profile killings committed during the Duterte administration. These include the 2016 deaths of three Chinese drug lords at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, the murder of PCSO executive Wesley Barayuga, the killing of Tanauan Mayor Antonio Halili and the death of Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez in a statement said that the DOJ would begin the investigation and case build-up once Congress submits its committee report along with affidavits, or if a formal complaint is filed.

Vasquez said the police or private individuals could file the complaint and the DOJ will launch a probe as long as there is an “initiatory process.”

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he would wait for the final recommendation of the quad committee.

“The testimonies are not over yet. So, as far as I am concerned, we will wait until all the testimonies are in. We will wait until the appropriate actions are done but initial work is already being conducted but only to that extent. We will wait until Congress is finished and we will act on it,” Remulla said at a press conference.

He added that there would be no sacred cows in the investigations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“Anyone who is found guilty will be treated like any other person. They will be accorded no special treatment. They will be accorded no special privileges. Everyone will face the full consequence of the law and the powers of the PNP, the institutions and the DILG,” Remulla said.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa expressed approval for the PNP to launch its own fact-finding investigation into Garma’s claim of a payment and rewards system for killing drug suspects.

Dela Rosa, first PNP chief during the Duterte administration, maintained he has no knowledge of Garma’s allegations of a “Davao model” in the anti-drug campaign. — Daphne Galvez, Evelyn Macairan, Bella Cariaso, Cecille Suerte Felipe