Hunt down drug suspects: Duterte

PRESIDENT DUTERTE has ordered authorities to hunt down drug users and narcotics dealers in a renewed campaign three months before he steps down.

Duterte’s order came after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año reported that authorities seized P12 billion worth of crystal meth in the town of Infanta in Quezon province on March 16 and the arrest of 10 people. And another haul of crystal meth worth P1 billion in Valenzuela City in the previous week. 

“At dito po makikita po natin na umaabot ng 1,600 kilos or 1.6 tons na shabu na umaabot ng 12 billion (pesos) ang nasakote ng ating mga law enforcers. At sa pinagsanib po na — at sa kabuuan po ay makikita natin na 1,700 kilos na shabu at 421.5 kilos na marijuana naman po ang nasamsam natin na umaabot ng 13.2 billion (pesos). Mr. President, ito po ang pinakamalaking nahuli sa entire Philippine history in one time na pagkakasakote sa illegal drugs,” Año told Duterte. 

“At patuloy pa rin po nating paiigtingin ang ating kampanya laban sa illegal drugs, Mr. President, sapagkat gusto po nating tuloy-tuloy ito upang siguraduhing ligtas ang ating mga kababayan sa masamang dulot ng illegal na droga. Maraming salamat po, Mr. President,” he added. 

Duterte, who is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court for the extrajudicial killings in his deadly war on drugs, said the public do not know the problems posed by illegal drugs. 

Drug problems 

“Alam mo, Secretary Año, 'yung haul — 'yung ngayon, the biggest haul so far, hindi masyado ano eh — hindi masyado naintindihan ng tao basta na lang may shabu. Ang ano dito 'yung nahuli ng gobyerno. Ang problema ko, 'yung mga hindi nahuli or 'yung… We will be going out in a few days just about three months from now,” the president said. 

“Iyong paano natin masugpo talaga itong duro(ga)… Ako sa totoo lang kung nalaman ko itong ganito, pinapatay ko na lang ito lahat. Itong prangka-prangka pagka. Biro mo ang ginawa ng — ‘sus, worth 10 billion? So ilan ang — nakita ko doon sa footage, ‘yung presentation mo, grabe karami. So sino ang end user nito? Ang Filipino people and this will continue to — drugs would haunt us today, tomorrow, and malayo pa,” he added. 

Duterte said he would personally talk with the next president about the country’s drug problems. “I hope to — pagka makausap ko kung matapos na ang elections and a new president shall have been elected, I said there’s a time for us to — me to bring, invite him to dito, ito siguro ang sasabihin ko sa kanya, patayin mo talaga itong mga...Ano ang… Kung mapunta ito doon sa street level, doon sa mga basurero, maraming na namang Pilipino na ano. Ang problema nito, it induces insanity sa tao kaya... Ito papatayin na naman, ‘pag walang mga pera mag-holdup, lahat na. At ang — multiple ang problema dito. Sige, let us go and look for them, hunt them down,” he said. 

Probe

In September last year, the pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court said it has granted Prosecutor’s Fatou Bensouda’s request to commence an investigation in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the so-called “war on drugs” campaign.

It can be recalled that on June 14, 2021, the Prosecutor filed a public redacted version of the request to open an investigation, initially submitted on May 24, 2021, requesting authorisation to commence an investigation into the situation in the Philippines, as provided for in Article 15(3) of the Rome Statute.

Before her term ended in June last year, Bensouda sought authorisation from The Hague tribunal to open a full investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing war on drugs that killed thousands of people, including innocent children.

Bensouda said a preliminary probe that began in February 2018 determined “that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the Crime against Humanity of murder was committed” in the Philippines between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019, which was when Duterte ordered that the Philippines withdraw from the court.

The suspected crimes happened “in the context of the government of Philippines ‘war on drugs’ campaign,” Bensouda said in a statement announcing that she was seeking judicial authorisation to proceed with a full investigation.

“Information obtained by the Prosecution suggests that state actors, primarily members of the Philippine security forces, killed thousands of suspected drug users and other civilians during official law enforcement operations,” she said.

Suspects

Duterte launched his deadly campaign against narcotics shortly after his victory in the May 2016 presidential elections. He ran on a single issue of fighting crimes in the Philippines, and during his campaign and later as president, Duterte repeatedly urged police to “kill” drug suspects.

Human rights groups said the number of deaths could be at least 27,000, and accuse the authorities of carrying out summary executions that killed innocent suspects including children. Countless people were also killed by “unknown” gunmen.

Police say the suspects were killed when they resisted arrest and became violent, but there have been documented cases of suspects being executed, or survivors saying police shot unarmed civilians.

The drug war killings have also continued even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, as Duterte vowed that there is no stopping in pursuing suspects.

Bensouda said prosecutors also reviewed allegations of “torture and other inhumane acts, and related events” dating back to November 1, 2011, “all of which we believe require investigation.” Duterte’s drug war, she said, shows “a State policy to attack civilians”.

Those allegations center in the city of Davao, where Duterte served as mayor for about two decades. In 2017, a retired police officer had linked Duterte and his men to nearly 200 killings in Davao.

Will not cooperate

Then Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, dismissed the decision as “legally erroneous and politically motivated.” He said: “The President will never cooperate until the end of his term on Jun 30, 2022.”

He also said that the ICC “has no jurisdiction” of the alleged crimes, adding that the police officers have “the right to defend” themselves using “reasonable force” during drug operations, “and therefore, justified by the principle of necessity and proportionality.”

In an address recorded a week before the news of Bensouda’s request broke, Duterte called on human rights organisations to take a closer look into his war on drugs. “You would notice that there are really persons who die almost daily because they fought back,” he said, warning drug dealers: “Do not destroy the country. I will kill you.”

Duterte had previously called Bensouda “that black woman,” while calling another international human rights investigator, Agnes Callamard as “skinny” and “malnourished.” 

Callamard is now the Secretary General of Amnesty International.

The “war on drugs” has been a cornerstone of Duterte’s presidency since he came to power promising to crush crime, despite criticism from opponents and human rights groups of widespread abuses.

Because of the probe, Duterte withdrew the country from the International Criminal Court in March 2018. The decision came into force a year later. However, the International Criminal Court still has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes that happened while the country was still a member of the International Criminal Court.

Duterte defended his drug crackdown, saying in a 15-page statement that it is “lawfully directed against drug lords and pushers who have for many years destroyed the present generation, especially the youth.”

Callamard said Bensouda’s announcement “is a moment of hope for thousands of families in the Philippines who are grieving those lost to the government’s so-called war on drugs. This is a much-awaited step in putting murderous incitement by President Duterte and his administration to an end.”

While the Philippines has long faced issues with impunity prior to the Duterte administration, the situation significantly worsened with the widespread and systematic killing of thousands of alleged drug suspects since 2016. “The ICC’s intervention must end this cycle of impunity in the country and send a signal to the police and those with links to the police who continue to carry out or sanction these killings that they cannot escape being held accountable for the crimes they commit,” Callamard said.

Former Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima welcomed the ICC’s full-blown investigation of the thousands of killings under the Duterte regime's murderous war on drugs. “Sabi ko naman noon pa, hindi pang-habangbuhay ang kapangyarihan. May galaw ang hustisya na hindi mako-kontrol ng politika ninyo at kapangyarihan. Hindi 'yan karma, that's the march of justice about to trounce you. Let's return to Mr. Duterte the favor and give him a taste of his own medicine: “Kung wala kang kasalanan, hindi ka matatakot.”

“That's why it is called the Rule of Law. You can't just play with the law of humanity and use your own set of rules. Kahit pa ang pangalan mo ay Duterte. So the International Criminal Court is now at your door, behind it are thousands of victims of your bloodbath,” she added.

De Lima said Duterte’s days are coming to an end, stressing that the only question now is whether Duterte’s own death will come as a boon and save him from the trial and judgment of the ICC for his crimes against humanity. “He might actually be entertaining that notion now, better to die first than to suffer the humiliation of being dragged in chains to The Hague as one of the few individuals in history to be tried as hostis humani generis, an enemy of mankind,” she said.

Pray for Duterte

De Lima, adding insult to injury, further said that Filipinos should pray for Duterte's long life and good health because his death would be unfair to the thousands of poor Filipinos killed under his orders. 

“It would be an injustice for him to escape his coming trial and conviction by the grace of an early departure from this world. No, that should not happen. Let us all pray for Duterte's long life and good health, so that he may go through the ICC trial that would follow his arrest after the start of the investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor," she said. “All power, no matter how absolute, is always fleeting. Only justice is permanent. Let it be done though the heavens fall.” (Mindanao Examiner)