Sen. Risa Hontiveros (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — That it took more than five years for a dismissed policeman to be convicted of the murder of two teenagers would only show that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has a “necessary” role to play in investigating the drug war killings during the Duterte administration, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
The senator, who helped secure the witnesses in the August 2017 killing of Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, said the decision of Navotas City Regional Trial Court that found former Patrol Officer 1 Jefrey Perez guilty of double murder may be considered a “partial victory, but not the end.”
The view was shared by the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW), which also dismissed as “self-serving” and “misleading” the government’s statement citing Perez’s conviction on Monday as proof that the country’s justice system was working.
Hontiveros and the HRW both noted the thousands of families still seeking justice after losing loved ones in questionable police operations and vigilante-style attacks being linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
More than hope
“No one should have to wait for (more than) five years for justice to be served. Like I said in 2017… no victim of state violence should have to feel that the law is not behind them,” Hontiveros told the Inquirer on Tuesday. “The toxic culture of impunity of the previous administration must stop pervading our society.”
The senator said that exacting accountability should include all those responsible for the drug war deaths, not just the subordinates who were just carrying out orders under Duterte’s brutal antinarcotics drive.
“We continue to demand a full accounting of the extrajudicial killings under the previous administration. Glimmers of hope are welcome but not enough when the system punishes only couriers and foot soldiers,” Hontiveros said.
Let the probers in
The opposition lawmaker renewed her call for the Marcos administration to let the ICC look into the drug war killings where most of the fatalities were from the poor.
For Hontiveros, the country’s judicial processes have failed to speed up the resolution of cases involving drug war deaths. “This is why I am looking forward to the ICC probe, so they may assist our authorities in the investigation of state-sponsored “tokhang,” she said, referring to Duterte’s controversial antidrug strategy.
“International cooperation can only expedite justice for thousands of Filipinos. ICC’s help must be welcome and necessary,” she added.
Just the second
“Keep in mind that this is just the second murder conviction out of thousands of such cases,” HRW said in a statement sent to reporters by its Asia division researcher, Carlos Conde.
While the group was “glad” about Monday’s court decision, the conviction was an argument for—not against—the ICC probe, it said.
The first drug war case to result in a conviction was also on a teenager’s death in 2017. A year following the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, three policemen, also assigned to Caloocan City like Perez, were sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole.
Having a second conviction only now “highlights just how broken the criminal and judicial system in the Philippines is and underscores the need for a thorough and honest-to-goodness investigation and prosecution,” the HRW stressed.
“For the thousands of victims in Duterte’s drug war, this recent conviction remains a drop in the bucket,” added Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan. “The drug war and its consequences are not mere acts of one or two police personnel. There were government policies behind it and (people who) who ordered, incited and encouraged these killings.’’