Roque to ICC: It’s hard to uncover truth on drug war sans gov’t cooperation

Malacañang on Friday said it would be difficult for the International Criminal Court to "uncover the truth" in the drug war as it insisted that the Philippine government will not cooperate in the ICC's investigation into the matter.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said complaints and allegations about the controversial anti-illegal drugs campaign should be lodged in the Philippines.

"Sana po pero without the cooperation of the State, mahihirapan po sila to uncover the truth. Ang sa akin lang naman po, kung mayroon talagang may reklamo laban sa drug war, isampa po natin dito sa Pilipinas nang mabigyan kayo ng katarungan," Roque said.

(Without the cooperation of the State, it will be difficult for them to uncover the truth. For me, if they have complaints about the drug war, they must file it here in the Philippines so that justice will be served.)

'Not hiding anything'

At the same briefing, Roque said the Justice Department Roque is not hiding anything and that the documents will be publicized once formal cases are filed.

"Wala pong tinatago 'yung imbestigasyon ng DOJ dahil kapag natapos po ang imbestigasyon at kinakailangan magsampa ng kaso, isasapubliko po lahat 'yan.

"Lahat ng isinasampang records sa ating hukuman ay public documents," Roque said.

(The DOJ is not hiding anything. Once the investigation is finished and cases will be filed, the records will be made public as all that will be filed before courts are considered as public documents.)

 'Uncover the truth'

Roque was reacting to the statement of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan that his probe into President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war will uncover the truth and guarantee accountability among those involved in alleged human rights abuses.

Khan said the ICC would focus its efforts on ensuring "a successful, independent and impartial investigation."

Despite Malacañang being firm that it will not cooperate with the ICC probe, Khan said his office was willing to "engage" with Philippine authorities in the course of the investigation.

Khan's predecessor Fatou Bensouda had requested the ICC to conduct a probe into the crimes committed in the Philippines between Nov. 1, 2011 in the context of the anti-drug campaign under the Duterte administration.

The ICC granted Bensouda's request, adding that it would also probe the killings in Davao province between November 2011 to June 2016.

Roque had said Duterte would rather die than face the ICC's investigation.

A Department of Justice-led inter-agency panel was tasked to review the drug killings in the country and it already completed reviewing two batches of drug war cases.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet recently urged the Philippine government to make public the findings of the DOJ's assessment. — RSJ, GMA News