No need for ICC, Philippines can do drug war probe, says SolGen

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Sunday that the Philippines does not need the International Criminal Court’s help in conducting an investigation into the Duterte administration's war against illegal drugs because the country is capable of doing the probe on its own.

Guevarra said that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is already looking into 52 cases of police operations that led to deaths of alleged drug suspects, of which over 20 findings have been submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for preliminary investigation to determine probable cause.

He pointed out that concerned government agencies are already conducting an investigation, and that the country no longer needs the ICC to restart its own probe, pending the final ruling on the international tribunal's request to do so.

“Bakit kailangan niyo pang manghimasok dito sa aming mga ginagawang imbestigasyon eh ginagawa naman namin? Maaaring hindi kayo happy sa resulta so far, but it doesn't mean that our judicial and legal system is not functioning. Hindi namin kayo kailangan,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(Why do you [ICC] have to interfere in our investigations? You may not be happy with the results so far, but it doesn't mean that our judicial and legal system is not functioning. We don't need you.)

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said last week that the Philippine government’s arguments against the resumption of the investigation on the Duterte administration's campaign against illegal drugs have no merit. He also reiterated his request that the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber order the resumption of the investigation.

The Philippine government had said that the international tribunal lacks jurisdiction on the matter, and that the alleged crimes are insufficiently grave to warrant further action. It also pointed out that it has investigated and prosecuted the alleged crimes or is currently doing so.

Lack of witnesses

Asked why it is taking the NBI too long to investigate the bloody war on drugs, Guevarra cited lack of witnesses as one of the reasons.

“Ang problema natin dito ay ‘yung testigo…Talagang hirap na hirap ang NBI na ma-validate kasi ang mga testigo na maaaring nakakaalam kung ano talaga ang nangyari, ay hindi naman lumilitaw. Kahit ‘yung mga kaanak ng namatay na drug suspects, hindi rin naman kumikibo,” he said.

(The problem is the witnesses...It is really hard for the NBI to validate the cases because the witnesses who may have known what really happened refuse to testify. Even the relatives of the deceased drug suspects are not showing up.)

He thus urged the witnesses to appear before the DOJ instead, if they are afraid of the consequences of testifying to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Further, Guevarra emphasized that the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, which gives the country more reason not to allow the international tribunal to investigate the drug war.

In 2018, then President Rodrigo Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that governs the Hague-based International Criminal Court. The withdrawal took effect in 2019, after the tribunal began a preliminary probe into the killings under the war on illegal drugs.

“Hangga’t hindi pa napa-finalize o nase-settle ‘yung issue na admissible ba ‘yung kaso [o] kung dapat ba nila imbestigahan kahit na may imbestigasyon na nangyayari dito sa Pilipinas…hindi papayag ang Philippine government na makialam ang ICC prosecutor dito sa nangyayari sa imbestigasyon ng Philippine government agencies,” he said.

(As long as the issue on the admissibility of the case is not finalized or settled, the Philippine government will not allow the ICC prosecutor to interfere in the Philippine’s own investigation into the matter.)

Government records showed that at least 6,200 drug suspects have been killed in police operations from June 2016 until November 2021. Several human rights groups, however, claimed the actual death toll could be between 12,000 to 30,000.

Drug prevention

In a separate dzBB interview, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said that they are continuously implementing the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy (PADS) to address the nation’s problem against illegal drugs.

It was in 2018 when Duterte issued Executive Order Number 66 to institutionalize PADS to strengthen the foundation of the government’s drug abuse prevention and control agenda.

“Bagama’t nakikita niyo na may mga nahuhuli, tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang ating ginagawang trabaho…Pagdating sa supply reduction, hinuhuli natin ang mga nagbebenta at mga gumagawa ng iligal na droga,” Cruz said.

(Although there are still arrests due to involvement in illegal drugs, we are still working to solve this...When it comes to supply reduction, we are arresting the sellers and producers.)

He also said that the DDB is doing demand reduction by bringing drug addicts to treatment centers, and they also teach the youth about the dangers of using illegal drugs, as part of preventive measures. —LBG, GMA News