House did not send drug war probe transcript to ICC – Barbers

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives quad committee did not send the transcript of its hearings on the Duterte administration’s drug war to the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the panel chair and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers.

Barbers was commenting on former Senator Antonio Trillanes’ statement that the transcript of the hearings of the Senate blue ribbon committee and the House quad panel were handed out to the ICC.

READ: Senate drug war probe transcript sent to ICC – Trillanes

“As far as the quad comm is concerned, there was no authority coming from anyone, any of the co-chairs, to release the transcript of records of quad hearings and release it to the ICC,” Barbers told reporters in an interview on Wednesday.

“Probably, what they did was they access all the social platforms of the house and maybe they transcribed it. But on our part, we did not release anything, we did not submit,” he added.

During the Senate hearing on Oct. 28, 2024, Duterte confessed that he organized a seven-man hit squad when he was Davao City mayor, but he did not tap police officers as they might be in a quandary if they got suspended for operations they conducted.

He also pointed out that the term “death squad” was loosely used, but he revealed that all the police chiefs he appointed — now-Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, retired police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao, retired Gen. Archie Gamboa, and retired Gen. Debold Sinas — led death squads.

The former president also clarified that he had not ordered the summary killing of anyone, but he admitted that his directive was to “encourage” suspects to “fight” so that they could be killed.

Earlier, Senate President Francis Escudero disclosed that the upper chamber has not received any formal communication from the ICC regarding their drug war probe.