Graphics by: Samuel Yap / INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines-The controversial war on drugs of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, which claimed the lives of thousands of people, started in 2016 but it was only this year that key witnesses unmasked what really transpired.
According to reports, Duterte’s bloody anti-drug campaign left at least 6,000 people dead. But, data from human rights watchdog Karapatan, showed that Duterte should be held accountable for the extrajudicial killings of 30,000 people, mostly small-time drug suspects.
Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said that an Office of the President yearend report in 2017 listed 20,322 drug-related killings from July 1, 2016, to November 27, 2017, as an accomplishment. Diokno said the report was cited in a Supreme Court en banc resolution in April 2018.
Among the dead was 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, who was killed despite not being the real target of the anti-drug operation in Caloocan City in August 2017. Delos Santos was shot point blank with security footage showing he pleaded for his life.
The investigation into Duterte’s anti-drug campaign was started in May this year by the House of Representatives committee on human rights before it was investigated by the quad committee, which also looked into other issues, such as illegal drugs and their connection to illicit Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
At first, only the previous administration’s officials were invited. The panel chair, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. said he saw no reason to subpoena the former president and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the lead enforcer of Duterte’s anti-drig campaign as national police chief then.
Among those invited were former chiefs of the Philippine National Police, including Oscar Albayalde, police unit heads, and former Cabinet officials particularly Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Abante said the investigation into extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s anti-drug campaign would be “impartial, fair and respectful in its efforts to obtain information and to hear all sides regarding the issue.”
He said the victims were only “alleged drug users and dealers” who were not convicted in court and had been deprived of their rights. It is the committee’s responsibility “to seek the truth,” Abante said.
It was the panel’s first time to look into the controversial “tokhang (katok-hango)” operations based on several resolutions filed by other lawmakers.
READ: House starts ‘tokhang’ probe; Duterte not invited
The committee led by Abante started the investigation on May 21. At his opening remarks, the lawmaker clarified that the panel on human rights “will not in any way” work with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Let the ICC be the one to conduct its own investigation on what they would like to have, but not with the committee on human rights,” he said.
According to Abante, the hearings on the drug war would focus on key issues such as the human rights violations committed against civilians during the period.
It also would look into whether the state or law enforcement agencies adhered to its “obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights during the implementation of the anti-illegal drugs campaign,” and assess the adequacy of human rights laws and policies.
“We must thoroughly investigate whether human rights violations have been committed against civilians––particularly women, children, and the poor––during the anti-illegal drugs campaign,” said Abante.
“The testimonies and evidence presented will help us understand this campaign’s impact on the most vulnerable members of our society, those who live at its margins,” the lawmaker said.
In 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr acknowledged that “abuses” were committed and that the human rights situation became a cause for concern during the term of his predecessor.
In line with this, Marcos committed to employing a more comprehensive approach against the illegal drug menace, expressing belief that drug dependence is a mental health problem.
Duterte’s continued refusal to attend House probe
Eventually, on June 5, Abante promised Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel that he would inform Duterte and Dela Rosa about the next hearing on the drug war.
This came after Manuel’s appeal, saying he believed that Duterte and Dela Rosa’s testimonies and replies were key to the hearings on EJKs.
Manuel said this after questioning the Command Memorandum Circular (CMC) No. 16 series of 2016, which operationalized the Duterte administration’s drug war. According to Manuel, Duterte should have clarified the vague or unclear portions of the CMC, with regards to anti-drug operations.
In the next hearing, the panel finally invited Duterte and Dela Rosa following a motion by Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas after one of the resource persons, National Union of People’s Lawyers secretary general Kristina Conti, said they believed Duterte was responsible for the killings and should be held accountable.
Responding to the invitation, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte had no problem showing up in any court hearing but not in a House panel discussion on the drug war.
“As guaranteed by our Bill of Rights, Congress cannot compel FPRRD to be a witness against himself. Our former President firmly believes that the Lower House is not the proper forum to investigate any criminal allegation against him,” Roque said in a statement on June 26.
Duterte was assured by Abante that lawmakers would be “fair and respectful to him” during the hearings. He said this would be a good opportunity for the former president
to address allegations of rights abuses in his administration’s drug war.
House probe findings
During a hearing of the committee on dangerous drugs last July 10, dismissed police colonel Eduardo Acierto claimed that Duterte wanted the military and the police to kill him for running after Chinese national Michael Yang, who had been Duterte’s economic adviser, and Allan Lim for their alleged involvement in the drug trade.
The panel was investigating the September 2023 drug bust in Pampanga.
Acierto worked at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Drug Enforcement Group and had been dismissed from police service over the alleged sale of AK-47 assault rifles to communist rebels. Reports said that he prepared a confidential report about Yang and Lim in August 2017.
Back then, Acierto said he submitted the report to former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Senator Richard Gordon, and former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, hoping the government would act on his information favorably, but nothing happened.
The former police officer also prepared a nine-minute video that detailed the alleged involvement of Yang and Lim in the operations of clandestine shabu laboratories in Davao and Cagayan de Oro cities and their connection with alleged Chinese drug lord Johnson Chua.
Acierto said he also informed Duterte, then-Special Adviser to the President and now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, and then-PNP chief Dela Rosa about Yang and Lim’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
After Yang’s name was mentioned in the inquiry of the committee on dangerous drugs, Manila Rep. Joel Chua (third district) said Duterte and his family should address their alleged involvement in drugs and extrajudicial killings.
However, Duterte and Dela Rosa continued to snub the panel on human rights.
On August 7, lawmakers said Duterte and Dela Rosa were invited again, this time, to the hearings by the four House of Representatives committees (the mega panel) on the connection between illegal activities of Pogo hubs and the drug trade.
The killing of three Chinese in 2016
During the second hearing of the quad committee on August 22, a confessed hitman, Leopoldo Tan, said Duterte ordered the killing of three Chinese nationals — Chu Kin Tung, Jackson Lee, and Peter Wang — inside the Davao Penal and Prison Farm in August 2016.
Tan claimed that the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) official Supt. Gerardo Padilla talked to a “person” over the phone after the alleged kill order was carried out, and the person even congratulated the jail officer. Tan identified the person who congratulated Padilla as former president Duterte.
In Tan’s affidavit, he also mentioned a certain Senior Police Officer (SPO) 4 Arthur Narsolis, who was the hitman’s high school classmate and the person who relayed to him the order to kill the Chinese nationals.
During the September 4 hearing, Padilla admitted receiving orders about not interfering with an “operation,” which reportedly came from former police colonel and ex-Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma.
Padilla’s affidavit also claimed that Garma threatened to harm his family if he refused to cooperate in the killing of the three Chinese serving prison time at the Davao Penal Farm for drug-related cases.
Barayuga slay case
In the mega panel’s seventh hearing, Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza said he was ordered to arrange the assassination of retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga allegedly by Garma and Leonardo for P300,000 during the pandemic. Leonardo reportedly relayed the order to Mendoza.
Following Mendoza’s revelation, the PNP ordered the reopening of the investigation on Barayuga’s murder case with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group leading it.
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil also ordered a “comprehensive review of internal processes,” specifically how the name of Barayuga got included in the drug watchlist during Duterte’s administration.
Barayuga was shot and killed in July 2020 on his way home from the PCSO headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
Police said Barayuga was gunned down by an unidentified assailant on a motorcycle at the corner of Calbayog and Malinaw Streets in Barangay Highway Hills.
Barayuga had gunshot wounds in the head, near the neck, and one under the armpit.
Authorities were looking into an old grudge and his work as a PCSO board secretary who signs important official resolutions and documents as among possible motives in the attack.
‘Davao drug war template’
Almost a month later on the mega panel’s eighth hearing, Garma alleged that rewards were given to police officers and officials involved in the drug war following the “Davao template.” The rewards ranged
from P20,000 to P1 million
“I am not so familiar with the specific amounts, but true, there is an amount per level, I think Colonel (Edilberto) Leonardo can explain this better what the specific amount is because I might be wrong if I say that it is P50,000 or P100,000 or P1,000,000. But there is a corresponding amount per level,” Garma said.
“There’s an amount…from what I understand is starting from P20,000 to P1,000,000. But I’m not familiar on the bracketing,,” Garna said.
Prior to this, Garma’s supplemental affidavit also confirmed the Duterte administration’s adoption of this Davao template in the anti-drug campaign.
READ: Garma bares monetary reward range under ‘Davao drug war template’
At the ninth hearing of the quad committee, Leonardo corroborated Garma’s testimony, confirming the existence of a rewards system in the past administration’s drug war.
Senate probe
Duterte responded to all these allegations when he attended the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on his brutal war on drugs, last October 28.
In an ambush interview on the same day, Duterte said he did what he had to do when asked what he could tell the public about his administration’s brutal anti-drug campaign.
“I am here to make an accounting of what I did as President…[The] drug war, it is for the Filipino to make a judgment,” he said.
During the hearing, Duterte also admitted to ordering policemen “to encourage suspected criminals to fight back so that they could be killed.”
He, however, pointed out that policemen from the Philippine Military Academy were not stupid, saying they would not follow even if he, as president, ordered someone killed as they were well aware of existing laws.
Duterte also said that he formed a death squad in Davao made up of gangsters tasked with going after those who commit heinous crimes. He confessed to assembling a seven-man hit squad when he was Davao City mayor.
The former president also explained that he did not tap police officers for the death squad as they might be in a quandary if they got suspended for kill operations.
He also claimed that the term “death squad” was loosely used. He revealed that all former national police chiefs, including Dela Rosa, retired police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao, retired Gen. Archie Gamboa, and retired Gen. Debold Sinas, led death squads.
But, Duterte clarified that he had not ordered the summary killing of anyone.
The former chief executive also said that he would take “full legal, moral responsibility” for his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
“I have tried to do the best I can to address the problem of illegal drugs firmly and without compromise. That’s all I want to leave here before I leave — before I leave this world. For all of its successes and mistakes — it was not a perfect one. There were many mistakes. Maybe there were a lot of crimes,” he said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
“You know, I just want to leave this to Filipinos. I would never have any chance maybe in the future. But for all the successes and mistakes or whatever, I and I alone take full legal, moral responsibility. That’s what I’m leaving to you all,” he added.
Duterte finally attends House probe
More confessions were made by the former president when he finally appeared before the House quad committee’s hearing last November 13. The mega panel tackled Duterte’s statements in past interviews, among others.
Duterte reiterated his admission of killing six or seven people when he was Davao City mayor, noting that he roamed the city waiting for the chance to kill criminals. He also admitted planting evidence on a suspected criminal during the same period “as part of their strategy.”
Aside from these, he also said that his statement on taking responsibility can be equated to an “extrajudicial confession of guilt,” in response to Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro’s question.
“Yes, because I ordered the campaign against illegal drugs. And whatever they did, whether legal or not, I ordered it. In that sense, I take that responsibility for their actions,” he told Luistro.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was also present during the quad committee’s 11th hearing, presented documents and “paper trails” reportedly showing that Duterte’s drug war was “fake” and just a coverup for his alleged “drug syndicate.”
Trillanes said he and former senator Leila de Lima gathered evidence linking retired policeman Arturo Lascañas’ accusations against the Dutertes and Davao businessman Sammy Uy with documented paper and money trails.
Based on Trillanes’ presentation, over P2.4 billion was transferred by Uy to the Dutertes’ accounts from 2007 to 2015.
From 2011 to 2013 alone, Trillanes said that the Dutertes allegedly received over P133 million: At least P14.88 million was transferred to Vice President Sara Duterte’s account, P15.65 million to the former president, P41.2 million to Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, and P42.6 million to Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña, Duterte’s partner.
Coming to Duterte’s defense was his legal counsel and former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo. In an interview with reporters, he claimed that lawmakers’ questions against Duterte had “no underlying predicate,” while others had “wrong premises.”
He also stressed that Duterte’s order to policemen is to arrest, imprison, and prosecute individuals involved in illegal drugs. If they happen to “resist arrest,” the former president had given law enforcement permission to kill.
“But they seem to highlight the statement: I will kill you. When you say I will kill you, it’s not a crime. He repeatedly said that he only says that to cast fear and many are already afraid,” he said.
Quad committee recommendation
After 13 hearings, the quad committee recommended on December 18 the filing of crimes against humanity complaints against Duterte and his key allies for their role in the extrajudicial killings in the drug war.
The panel chair and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the quad committee recommended criminal charges against Duterte, Dela Rosa, Go, Garma, Leonardo, Go’s aide Irmina “Muking” Espino, along with former PNP chiefs Albayalde and Sinas.
Barbers said the individuals mentioned violated Republic Act No. 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
In connection with the killing of the three Chinese in 2016, Barbers said the panel also recommended the filing of murder complaints against Duterte, Garma, Leonardo, Narsolis, and Padilla.
The progress report presented by Barbers before the plenary session is now submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation. It contains other recommendations concerning all the findings in the mega panel’s 13 hearings this year.
For the mega panel’s next hearing, Barbers said they will no longer invite Duterte. He explained that the previous statements of the former president were already sufficient.
Still not working with ICC
Following Duterte’s series of confessions both in the House and Senate, Barbers said that the mega panel will not grant the ICC access to the transcript of its hearings on the Duterte administration’s brutal drug war.
Barbers’ statement was in support of Marcos’ pronouncement reiterating that the Philippines would not cooperate with the ICC in the Duterte case.
In a radio interview Barbers also said that he will not submit the quad committee progress report to the ICC.