Trillanes on ICC drug war probe finished by 2020: Justice is coming

The wheels of justice for the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) under the Duterte administration’s drug war are finally in motion, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Friday.

Trillanes was responding to the International Criminal Court (ICC) report that it will finish by 2020 its preliminary examination of President Rodrigo Duterte and his key allies due to drug-war related killings which has reached beyond 10,000 based on the tally of both local and international human rights groups.

Likewise, the ICC said it has “significantly advanced” its assessment of whether the drug war killings is a crime against humanity.

“Justice is coming. To the members of the PNP (Philippine National Police) who have been a part of the EJKs, you would have to make a decision on whether you would fall with Duterte on being liable for crimes against humanity, or you would partly cleanse your crime by being a witness for the ICC prosecutors,” Trillanes, a fierce Duterte critic, said.

Trillanes warned the PNP that Duterte can’t save them from ICC prosecution, and that the President would also have to face the consequences of his policies.

“As Duterte steps down from office in just a little over two years, he would not be able to protect you. In fact, even Duterte won't be able to protect himself,” he said.

The ICC's conduct of preliminary examination stems from a complaint filed by lawyer Jude Sabio in May 2017 accusing the President of committing crimes against humanity for the thousands of deaths in his anti-drugs campaign. —Llanesca T. Panti/KBK, GMA News