Duterte arrest could spur more drug war witnesses to come forward, say lawmakers

The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his transport to a prison facility in The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity could spur more people to come forward and testify against him without fear of reprisal, administration lawmakers said.

“Sigurado ‘yun, mas lalong may mga taong magko-come forward saka ‘yung mga tao sigurong mas takot dati, medyo nawawala na ‘yung takot nila. At ‘yun nga, ‘yung iba naman kinakain na ng konsensya,” House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union told reporters.

(Definitely, there will be a lot who will come forward. Those who were afraid before...their fears are subsiding. And there are others whose conscience is eating away at them.)

Duterte was arrested early Tuesday morning on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court and is currently detained at a facility in the Dutch city, one of the major hubs of international law and jurisprudence.

“With this development, people will have courage to testify and speak what they know about this bloody war on drugs, especially on the part of the victims, the families of the victims. I expect that people will come out and speak their grievances,” House Assistant Majority Leader Jil Bongalon of Ako Bicol party-list added.

House Assistant Majority Leader Jefferson "Jay" Khonghun of Zambales also said it is understandable that people did not come forward earlier, when Duterte was president.

“Hindi rin natin sila masisisi dahil sila’y natatakot din naman para sa kanilang kaligtasan at lalung-lalo na sa kaligtasan ng kanilang pamilya. Kaya kami ngayon, umaasa na sana, dahil nga nadala na 'yung ating dating pangulo sa Netherlands, mas magiging malakas ang kanilang loob na mag salita at sabihin kung ano talaga yung nangyari nung panahon sa war on drugs,” Khonghun said.

(We can't blame them for being afraid for their safety and especially that of their families, but we are hopeful that now that the former president has been brought to The Netherlands, they will be emboldened to speak out about what happened to them during the war on drugs.)

Manila Representative Ernix Dionisio agreed with Khonghun. "Mawawala 'yung mga agam-agam  at takot kapag nasa tamang proseso na. We hope that the truth will prevail,”  he said.

(The doubts and fears will dissipate if due process is in place.)

Likewise, the lawmakers said that turning over Duterte to ICC authorities does not show weakness but rather strength on the part of the Philippine government because the move is grounded on local and international laws.

“The country joined the ICC in 2000 and passed the Republic Act 9851 or better known as the Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, where it states that in the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities may dispense with the investigation of the prosecution of a crime punishable under this act if another court or international tribunal is already conducting the investigation or undertaking the prosecution of such crime. Instead, the authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court or to another state pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties,” Khonghun said.

“These are enough reasons why everything happened that way. Besides, the victims filed the complaint before the ICC, and the ICC issued a warrant of arrest, and we responded to the request of the Interpol, which we are a part of. It was a matter of responsibility on our part to implement the request,” he added.

The ICC arrest warrant on Duterte stated that its investigation found him "individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder” over the drug war deaths.

"Taking into account the totality of the information before it, the Chamber finds reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder as an indirect co-perpetrator within the meaning of Article 25 (3)(a) of the Statute, committed during the relevant period," read the document tagged "secret."

The former President, however, has been adamant that he has done nothing wrong in implementing the bloody drug war that killed around 30,000 individuals, although the police had only admitted to killing around 6,000 drug suspects in anti-drug police operations.

'No betrayal'

Khonghun also commented on Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa's remark that he felt "betrayed" after Duterte was arrested.

Dela Rosa was referring to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s words that the government would not help the ICC.

As Duterte's first chief of the Philippine National Police, Dela Rosa has also been linked to the killings related to the war on drugs.

Marcos in April 2024 said the Philippine government will not serve any arrest warrant from the ICC against Duterte.

"We are a country that works by certain rules and the accused should face the charges against them. Nobody is exempted there,” Khonghun said.

“The President already said it. We did not cooperate with the ICC. We cooperated with Interpol [which we are a part of]. We fulfilled our end of responsibility as part of the Interpol,” he added. —BM/NB, GMA Integrated News