MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on human rights chairperson and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. has filed a resolution that urges the different departments in the executive branch to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of rights violations in the drug war.
During the plenary session on Wednesday, House Resolution (HR) No. 1477 from Rep. Abante and 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez was referred to the House committee on justice for deliberation.
If the resolution is adopted, it means the House is urging relevant departments under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration to cooperate with the ICC’s probe into the drug war during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s time.
“House Resolution No. 1477, urging the appropriate Philippine departments and agencies to extend their full cooperation to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC with respect to its investigation of any alleged crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC, including but not limited to the crime against humanity of murder committed in the Philippines in the context of the so-called war on drugs campaign,” the resolution’s title stated, as read by the House deputy secretary-general.
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In the past, President Marcos has maintained that the government will not talk with the ICC since the international court only comes into the picture if the justice system in a country is not functioning.
Several crimes against humanity raps were filed by drug war victims’ relatives against Duterte and implementers of the drug war, claiming that state forces committed mass murder and gross human rights violations in the process.
READ: Marcos okays PH disengagement from ICC, asserts sovereignty over drug war probe
However, several groups recently urged Marcos to allow the ICC to start its probe after Duterte supposedly admitted in a televised program to using secret funds to conduct extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
The Magdalo group headed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV pointed to an interview with Duterte over Sonshine Media Network International last October 16 where the former president can be heard saying that he used the intelligence funds to kill everyone.
“Ang intelligence fund, binili ko, pinapatay ko lahat, kaya gano’n ang Davao. ‘Yong mga kasama ninyo, pina-tigok ko talaga. ‘Yon ang totoo,” Duterte said at the SMNI program.
(The intelligence fund, I used it to order the killing of everyone, that’s why Davao is like that. Your peers, I had them dead. That’s the truth.)
READ: Trillanes revives call on Marcos to let ICC probe Duterte for alleged EJKs
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