THE Department of Justice (DOJ) will assess the recommendation of the quad committee of the House of Representatives to charge former President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte and Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Cristopher “Bong” Go for alleged violation of the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
President Marcos Jr. made the statement after the House joint panel held Duterte, Dela Rosa and Go liable for the thousands of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed under the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs.
The recommendation was contained in the panel’s initial committee report, which it submitted to the House plenary on Wednesday evening.
The 79-year-old former chief executive is already being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity,
Marcos said that if the DOJ determines that there is probable basis to file a complaint in court against the three personalities, it will then gather evidence and build up the case.
“Titingnan pa ‘yan… kailangan pang i-assess nang mabuti kung ano ‘yung maaaring maging kaso, kung tama ba ‘yung direksyon ng rekomendasyon ng committees from the House (That would still be thoroughly assessed to determine if there is a case, if the direction taken by the House committees is correct),” he said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the Philippine Air Force change of command ceremonies at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.
He said the justice department will observe due process in its consideration of the quad committee’s recommendation.
The House quad committee, which has also been investigating criminal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), also recommended the filing of charges of crimes against humanity against former PNP chiefs Oscar David Albayalde and Debold Sinas; former Police Colonels Royina Garma and Edilberto Leonardo; and former Palace aide Herminia “Muking” Espino, who allegedly handled the reward money for cops who killed drug suspects.
It was Garma who exposed the supposed reward system for policemen who kill drug suspects, which was supposedly patterned after the “Davao model” drug strategy in Davao City when Duterte was city mayor.
Garma’s expose was confirmed by Leonardo.
DEMOLITION JOB
Dela Rosa, in a statement on Wednesday night, said the House quad committee’s recommendation is “obviously meant to demolish” his and Go’s re-election bids so they cannot block the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte when these reach the Senate.
In an interview with radio dzRH, Dela Rosa said members of the joint panel “are moving heaven and earth to make life difficult for us.”
“Yan naman ang gusto talaga nilang mangyari, mapiga tayo ng husto para, alam mo na, para i-demolish tayo lalong lalo eleksiyon na at kapag kaming dalawa ni Sen. Bong Go ay hindi mananalo next year dahil na-demolish kami ng husto ngayon… walang haharang dito sa Senado sa impeachment nila na gagawin kay VP Sara (That’s what they want – to pin us down, to demolish us, especially me and Sen. Bong Go, to prevent us from being re-elected next year so there will be no obstacles to the impeachment of VP Sara),” he said.
Dela Rosa said he is ready to face the accusations against him once a case is filed in court.
“I have faith in our courts, in the justice system here in our country. I trust that they will do everything so justice will prevail,” he added in Filipino.
Like Dela Rosa, Go said he is ready to face the charges once these are filed in court and maintained that he is innocent of the accusations being leveled by the House panel.
“Ang nakapagtataka lang sa quad comm, sila mimso nagsabi na huwag idamay ang walang kinalaman. Pero ngayon, parang lahat ng nabanggit sa mga hearing nila, kahit hearsay o walang katibayan, idinamay naman nila
(I am just wondering. The quad comm earlier said that those who have nothing to do with the alleged crimes would not be included. But now, it seems that all the names mentioned during their hearings, even if it was just hearsay or without solid evidence, they are now included [in the initial report]),” Go said in a statement.
He refrained from further commenting on the issue and said he would just file his answer once cases are filed in court.
Dela Rosa called some members of the House quad committee as “ass lickers” but did not name names.
He said these congressmen would do everything to “please” their “patron” so they can receive “special favors,” similar to what they did during the Duterte administration.
“Hindi lang pumupuri. To put it bluntly ha, forgive me for my words, ‘himod puwit’ yun iba diyan. Yung quad comm na yan, himod puwit kay Presidente Duterte at kay Sen. Bong Go. Hindi gaano sa akin dahil hindi naman ako ganoon ka-powerful sa Malacañang. PNP lang naman ang hawak ko. Himod puwit yung iba diyan
(They did not only praise [Duterte], [but] to put it bluntly, forgive me for my words, some of them are ass lickers. That quad comm has ass lickers. They licked the asses of [former] President Duterte and Sen. Bong Go, not too much to me because I was not powerful. I was only in-charge of the PNP. Some of them are ass lickers),” he said.
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED
The Duterte wing of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) condemned the quad committee’s recommendation, saying this is “politically motivated and with no clear legal and evidentiary basis.”
In a statement, the PDP questioned the speed at which the recommendations of the joint panel were reached, as well as the basis of committee’s findings.
It alleged that some testimonies made during the hearings were only obtained under pressure or coercion, and with the resource persons always threatened with contempt “if they did not follow the script” of the committee.
“This clearly shows that the QuadComm had an inherent bias against FPRRD and his allies, and railroaded the process to coerce and threaten witnesses, including abusing its powers of contempt against ‘uncooperative’ resource persons,” it said.
It also said that the committee’s recommendations are proof of the House’s alleged “carefully planned, well-funded, but poorly executed demolition job against FPRRD and his allies ahead of the 2025 elections.”
It added that the hearings were without due process and held a strong anti-Duterte bias.
PDP said the Filipino people would see through the House charade “and know for themselves the success of the anti-drug war in their own communities. No amount of black propaganda or disinformation can ever change the unprecedented anti-crime legacy of the Duterte Administration.” – With Raymond Africa
