Gov’t pressed to cooperate with ICC as Duterte admits using secret funds for EJK
EJK VICTIM | Jennelyn Olaires weeps beside her partner, alleged drug pusher Michael Siaron, 30, a pedicab driver shot and killed by unidentified suspects in July 2016. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — A resolution urging the government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of human rights abuses has been filed at the House of Representatives in the wake of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged admission that he used secret funds to kill people.
In a statement on Wednesday, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc confirmed filing House Resolution No. 1393 on Tuesday, asking Marcos Jr.’s administration to allow the entry of ICC probers.
Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas believes Duterte’s statements over an interview with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) — where he supposedly admitted using intelligence funds to kill people and maintain peace and order in Davao City.
“This admission by Duterte himself serves as strong evidence against him and should prompt the Marcos Jr. administration to allow ICC to investigate the matter under the principle of complementarity,” Brosas said.
“There was no genuine recourse against the killings in Davao City while he was mayor. As a member state of the ICC at the time these killings occurred, the Marcos Jr. administration should allow ICC investigators to enter the country,” she added.
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro meanwhile said that the move by the Magdalo group to send clips of Duterte’s interview to the ICC is a good move to prove that the former president indeed ordered killings.
Magdalo, in a statement shared by former senator Antonio Trillanes, also urged Marcos to allow ICC investigations after the latest revelation from Duterte about extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
“Former President Duterte himself admitted that he ordered and financed extra-judicial killings using his CIF on national television; in my opinion, that is very strong evidence indeed,” Castro said.
“With Duterte not facing prosecution for the Davao City EJKs, I do not think that the Marcos administration can continue to invoke the principle of complementarity with this new admission from Duterte himself unless they file the proper charges against him now and seriously pursue it,” she added.
In the clip shared by Trillanes on Twitter, Duterte can be heard saying that the intelligence funds were used to kill everyone.
“Ang intelligence fund, binili ko, pinapatay ko lahat, kaya gano’n ang Davao. ‘Yong mga kasama ninyo, pina-tigok ko talaga. ‘Yon ang totoo,” Duterte said at the SMNI program.
(The intelligence fund, I used it to order the killing of everyone. That’s why Davao is like that. Your peers, I had them dead. That’s the truth.)
In the past, Marcos has maintained that his administration would no longer talk with the ICC, noting that the international court only comes into the picture if the justice system in the country is not functioning.
READ: Trillanes revives call on Marcos to let ICC probe Duterte for alleged EJKs
Duterte grabbed headlines once again after his interview on SMNI, where he criticized the House for being a rotten organization and Castro for pushing for the removal of confidential funds (CF) from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
OVP and DepEd, which asked for a CF of P500 million and P150 million, respectively, are headed by Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
