By John Victor D. Ordoñez, A reporter
FORMER Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte said on Monday that he “does not apologize, he does not forgive you” for his war on drugs, as he appeared for the first time in a Senate hearing investigating the destruction of drugs, where thousands of drug suspects died.
“My duty as President of the republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people,” he told the Senate’s blue ribbon subcommittee. “Don’t ask about my policies, because I don’t apologize, they have no excuses. I did what I had to do, and believe it or not, I did it for my country.”
During the trial, Mr. Duterte, 79, said he ordered the police not to abuse their authority in carrying out his anti-drug campaign and to use force only in self-defense, amid allegations of crimes against humanity at the time. the war on drugs.
“I told them to drive away anger only by self-defense, not to make orphans of children and widows of wives. I didn’t want that on my conscience as a mayor or president,” he said.
“I believed, and still believe, that rehabilitation and not fearing death and imprisonment was the key to returning addicts to a just and forgiving society.”
“The behavior of the Senate today… underscores the need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to continue its investigation and, more importantly, for President Marcos to cooperate with the ICC investigation,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. , he told reporters on WhatsApp.
Mr. Duterte told senators that he ordered the police in his hometown of Davao City when he was mayor to incite criminals to retaliate during anti-narcotics raids so that the police would have a reason to retaliate, adding that he had an attack group. tasked to eradicate crime.
“What I said is to encourage criminals to fight [back]encourage them to draw their guns, and if they do fight, kill them to end this problem in my city,” he told a Senate subcommittee committee looking into the government’s deadly drug war.
Mr. Duterte admitted that thousands of drug suspects died during his tenure as mayor of Davao.
The fire chief said he used a hit squad made up of gangsters and rich people who killed criminals in Davao City, but he denied that he paid rewards for these killings.
The government estimates that at least 6,117 people were killed in Mr.
The International Criminal Court is investigating allegations of crimes against humanity committed during the campaign, when Mr. Duterte when he was the Mayor of Davao City and during his presidency.
The Philippines under Mr Duterte withdrew from the ICC in 2019 amid criticism that his government had systematically killed drug suspects in police raids. It started working a year later.
Former Senator Leila M. de Lima, who was prosecuted by the Duterte government and jailed for seven years for drug trafficking after leading a Senate investigation into her campaign against illegal drugs, said Mr. to kill.
The Muntinlupa court in June acquitted the former legislator of his third and final drug trafficking case which he said was false to silence his investigation into Mr. Duterte of drugs.
Mrs. De Lima noted that when she was Justice secretary, she ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Davao office of the Commission on Human Rights to look into this drug killing. “But they are finding it difficult to find potential witnesses,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Mrs. De Lima incurred the wrath of the former President when, as chairwoman of the CHR, she started an investigation in 2009 into the extrajudicial killings carried out by a group called the Davao Death Squad. Mr. Duterte later vowed to “destroy” him.
Responding to one of his fiercest critics, Mr. Duterte said he was doing his best to “take a firm stand on the issue of illegal drugs without compromise,” denying alleged government-sponsored killings or orders for police to kill.
THERE ARE ALSO THE POLICE
“For all its (drug war) successes and failures, it was not flawless, [there were] there are many mistakes and crimes,” he said. “I, and I alone, take full legal and moral responsibility.”
He also added that the former national police chiefs were “chiefs of a murderous group,” adding that law enforcement only resorted to killing when a criminal or a suspect retaliated.
“They were all police directors controlling crime in the city. So when you say death squad, it’s a very loose term,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “I never ordered them to kill anyone.”
Former Davao City Police Chief Vicente D. Danao, Jr. told the senators that Mr.
At the same time, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” T. Diokno asked why the 2016 Philippine National Police (PNP) circular ordered the police to “not prosecute” drug suspects.
Former national police chief General Archie F. Gamboa said the word “neutralize” is a common word used in police programs that can really mean killing a suspect.
Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa, who was also the national police chief of Mr. Duterte, cited the PNP’s operational manual that defines neutrality as “the intentional use of force to prevent lawful violence including arrest, detention, surrender or other actions to subdue the suspect.” .”
“What is written, through his public declarations during the ongoing anti-drug campaign, are those who encouraged the military and the police to kill,” said Ephraim B. Cortez, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, in a statement sent by Viber.
“The statement came too late to release him from any responsibility,” he added, referring to Mr. Duterte with an emphasis on defense.
CHR Chairman Richard P. Palpal-latoc said his agency has set up a team to review the extrajudicial killings and decide to answer, but the PNP refused to cooperate with the investigation.
“The Rodrigo Duterte we saw today is reckless, unrepentant and disrespectful,” said Maria Kristina C. Conti, secretary of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Metro Manila and legal counsel to several victims of the drug war, said in a Viber message.
“This is enough to strengthen the evidence before the ICC to obtain an arrest warrant during the investigation,” he added.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. he denied that he would work with the ICC, citing the judicial system in place in the country.
The war on drugs has resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 people, mostly the urban poor, according to Human Rights Watch. It also revealed that at least 2,555 people were killed by the national police.
“He (Mr. Duterte) is now using the Senate hearing as a platform to rally or unite his supporters by using his old lines and messages,” said Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at Ateneo de Manila University, on Facebook. Message chat.
“To remain vague is to fail to acknowledge the legal nature of that order for him to resort to murder.”
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