‘Justice system works,’ Eleazar insists as drug war victims ‘overwhelmingly support’ ICC probe

This photo taken July 8, 2021 shows Corazon Enriquez (R) taking photos of workers removing the bones of her son Rodzon, who was killed five years ago in the country’s war on drugs, at a cemetery in Manila, while Catholic priest Father Flavie Villanueva (L) helps workers. (Photo by Jam STA ROSA / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — While “respecting” the decision of families of drug war victims to seek redress from the the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their grievances, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Tuesday said the country’s justice system still “works.”

“We respect the decision of the families of persons killed in anti-illegal drug operations in seeking an International Criminal Court investigation,” Eleazar said in a statement.

“But we can assure them that the Philippine justice system works. Proof of this is the conviction of the policemen for the killing of Kian delos Santos and several other court decisions which have caused the dismissal and imprisonment of other PNP personnel,” Eleazar added.

An ICC report showed that most of the victims who had filed representation before the court “overwhelmingly supported” an investigation into alleged “crimes against humanity” in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, with 94 percent of the 204 representations said they wanted the ICC prosecutor to pursue a full-blown investigation.

To recall, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the international body to formally investigate the killings being linked into the drug war, which Eleazar said is being addressed through several initiatives of the Philippine government.

“We already made several initiatives to prove that the PNP has no policy of allowing and tolerating all forms of human rights abuses in the conduct of our operations,” he noted.

This includes the opening of at least 61 drug war records to the Department of Justice, as well as the procurement of body cameras and “agressive” internal cleansing among their ranks, according to Eleazar.

EDV