Quad won’t give ICC drug war probe records

MANILA, Philippines — The quad committee of the House of Representatives will not provide the International Criminal Court (ICC) with copies of affidavits and transcriptions of testimonies of witnesses and resource persons in its investigation on extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration.

In an interview yesterday on dzBB, quad comm overall chair Rep. Robert Ace Barbers maintained that the country is no longer a member of the ICC and thus not obliged to provide the international court with records of its investigation.

“As far as the ICC, we will not give any transcript or any documents, affidavit or transcript of the testimonies of the witnesses because we firmly held that we are not a member of the ICC, as for now,” Barbers said.

“We have no obligation to submit to them any documents that are in the hands of quad comm,” he added.

He said it would be easy anyway for the ICC to get details of the quad comm hearings as they were all shown live on TV and social media.

“If we will look at it, their (ICC) investigation has been continuous. What I know is that they have interviewed a lot here in our country. We, as far as the quad comm is concerned, if they will need documents or any testimony coming from the quad comm, we will not give that. If they want to access information and they want to establish a lead, they can browse from the social media platform. Our hearing is available livestream on social media,” Barbers said. The next hearing of the quad comm is on Nov. 21.

On whether they would invite former president Rodrigo Duterte again, Barbers said quad comm members would have to discuss this first and make a final decision before Nov. 21.

He also said that based on Duterte’s testimony last Wednesday, extrajudicial killings appeared to be a state policy during the previous administration.

“It appears so, as Duterte himself had admitted offering rewards for high value targets. This corroborated what Col. Edilberto Leonardo, Col. Jovie Espenido and Col. Royina Garma said that there was a reward money,” Barbers said.

But he stressed Duterte’s admission had to be “thoroughly analyzed” first “because sometimes we could not easily determine what are hyperbole, what are true and what are for jokes only.”

“For us, we will take all these testimonies and we will include our conclusion based on the testimonial evidence and documentary evidence that we have gathered. And whatever is our conclusion, there will be recommendation. If it is right or wrong, we will give it to the government agency that will scrutinize and discuss it. Like in DOJ (Department of Justice). We have recommendation for criminal case to whoever they are, the DOJ will study it,” Barbers added.

Further examination

He also said the allegation of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV regarding the Duterte family’s secret bank accounts containing billions of pesos would also have to be examined further.

In his testimony which made Duterte flare up, Trillanes said the former president’s son Paolo, Vice President Sara and her husband lawyer Mans Carpio and Duterte’s partner Honeylet have a total of P2.4-billion “drug money” in their bank accounts.

“These documents of bank accounts of the Dutertes were validated by the ombudsman that are similar to the documents submitted by the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) to the Office of the Ombudsman. That is why I am confident of its authenticity. The total deposits is P2.4 billion,” Trillanes said.

But Barbers said the quad comm had to exercise caution in dealing with the former senator’s allegation.

“We cannot easily believe what former senator Trillanes revealed. If this has certification from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, these documents may have weight and may become evidence. For now, this was presented for the first time. It is on our records. It cannot be considered as part of the committee report as basis for our recommendation because there is no certification yet from the AMLC,” Barbers said.

“That will be the first step that we will make. The AMLC, the DOJ, especially the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) are there in every hearing that we conduct, particularly when the topic is war on drugs and EJKs,” Barbers said when asked if the quad comm would summon the AMLC.

‘Bluffer, coward’

The former senator, meanwhile, dismissed Duterte as a bluffer, a coward and a tired old man.

“With all objectivity, based on a profile, Duterte is a coward. He is just projecting that he is brave because his bodyguards are there and they will intervene. But he is just bluffing,” Trillanes told “Storycon” on One News in Filipino yesterday.

“We have encountered such characters in our life. We know that they are just full of air … Strip him of his bodyguards and that guy is just a tired old man,” he added.

During the hearing, Duterte lost his cool and made a gesture of throwing a mic at Trillanes, who just grinned in reaction.

“I said yes, slap me,” the former senator recalled saying to Duterte before the latter attempted to throw the mic. “I know that he is a bluffer, he is a coward… That’s why at every opportunity, I call his bluff.”

According to Trillanes, the documents he presented during the hearing were confirmed by the AMLC when the ombudsman initiated an investigation in relation to the plunder case that he filed against Duterte.