EDITORIAL – Probing the drug killings

Whether or not it’s true that probers of the International Criminal Court were in the country last December, the stories should prod Philippine authorities to speed up and intensify their own investigation into possible extrajudicial killings and other state abuses in the so-called war on drugs carried out in the previous administration.

The stories have swirled since late last year about the arrival in the country of ICC probers. Over the weekend, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he had “inside information” that the stories were true, and the ICC probers had gathered sufficient evidence to order the arrest of the primary respondents led by former president Rodrigo Duterte and his first Philippine National Police chief, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, reputed to be the architect of the bloody Oplan Tokhang crackdown on illegal drugs.

The ICC had rejected the Philippines’ argument that the court lost jurisdiction after the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect. The ICC says even with the withdrawal, it has jurisdiction over possible crimes committed when the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute, which created the court.

President Marcos, who said in July last year that “we’re done talking” with the ICC, said in November that the country’s return to the ICC is “under study.” At around the same time, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who previously said an ICC probe would be an “insult” to the country and an infringement on national sovereignty, also said cooperation with the ICC “needs a serious study” on the part of the DOJ.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra had previously said the government could not stop private persons from cooperating with ICC probers, who are looking into drug killings perpetrated not only during Duterte’s presidency but also by so-called death squads when he was mayor or vice mayor of Davao City between Nov. 1, 2011 and June 30, 2016. When he was vice mayor, the mayor was his daughter, now Vice President Sara Duterte, who is reportedly included in the ICC probe.

Trillanes claimed additional evidence would be gathered against the secondary respondents in the possible indictment for murder as a crime against humanity. The country has a law covering such crimes. But Guevarra has said that before indictments can be made, it must first be established that the killings were systematically carried out to constitute a crime against humanity. The government, Guevarra said, was having difficulty finding witnesses and gathering evidence that can sustain such an indictment.

Perhaps witnesses are more willing to cooperate with ICC probers. Even as the ICC proceeds with its work, the government must continue showing the world that there is a sustained, earnest effort in the Philippines to uncover the truth and give justice to victims of the drug war.