Malacanang yesterday maintained that President Rodrigo Duterte made no admission of guilt over extrajudicial killings when he said that the unlawful executions of suspected drug personalities in the country were his “only sin.”
This developed as former lawmaker Neri Colmenares said a supplemental pleading was being prepared for filing before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a statement, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr said Duterte made the statement to point out he has never been accused of anything other than extrajudicial killings associated with his campaign against illegal drugs.
“First, there is no admission on the part of the president. He merely wants to underscore the point that he has not been accused of corruption nor has he engaged in political vendetta. All the critics and detractors can allege are killings attributed to his drug war,” Roque told reporters.The Palace official also maintained that that most of the drug-related deaths were not part of police operations.
“Second, the president recognises and feels the incidence and increase of drug-related deaths in the country is unfortunate. However, we must emphasise that most of the killings, although drug-related, did not result as part of any police operation,” Roque said.
“As for those which resulted as a consequence of such, we maintain that police authorities also have the right to protect themselves from violent resistance,” he added.
Speaking before the newly-appointed career government officials on Thursday in Malacanang Palace, Duterte seemed to have confessed that he orchestrated extrajudicial killings of alleged drug suspects amid the brutal crackdown of his government on illicit drug trade.
The president, however, said there was no evidence to implicate him in the deaths of over 4,000 suspected drug offenders, and linked “ninja cops” to be behind the killings.
“What is my sin? Did I steal even a peso? Did I prosecute somebody I ordered arrested? My only sin is extrajudicial killings,” Duterte said in a speech.
“Four thousand deaths. When? Where? How? What did I use? None. All those who were killed… I know that there are policemen who, are ‘ninja’ cops. And they are the ones killing,” he added. From July 1, 2016 to August 31, 2018, a total of 4,854 alleged drug personalities have been killed since Duterte waged the war on illegal drugs, according to the government’s RealNumbersPH campaign. The death toll in the deadly drug war was attributed to the killings during legitimate police operations and executions by so-called vigilante groups.
Duterte’s critics slammed his supposed public admission of crimes. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the president’s remark should prod the ICC to review the complaints against Duterte.
“This admission should erase any doubt about the culpability of the president,” HRW said in a statement. “It is time for Duterte to answer for what may amount to crimes against humanity, especially because the killings continue to happen on a daily basis,” it added.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), on the other hand, said it was not right for Duterte to make light the subject of extrajudicial killings, much more make it a subject of a joke. “Life is sacred. It should not be played with. It is also not right to make the death of thousands of Filipinos still looking for justice the object of one’s jokes,” lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia, spokeswoman of the CHR, said in a statement.
Nonetheless, de Guia said Duterte’s remarks would not disrupt the investigations of the CHR on every case of death linked to the campaign against illegal drugs.
Duterte is facing complaints at the ICC over the drug war killings. He has ordered the country’s withdrawal from the tribunal.
Meanwhile, Roque said that Duterte “knows fully well that his policy on the war on drugs is necessary, even saying that he is willing to sacrifice his life, his honour, even the presidency to fulfil his electoral vow.”
“The president remains steadfast in the belief that one of the country’s greatest ills is the rampant use, sale and distribution of illicit drugs, which is why he led with this campaign promise during the elections, for which the Filipino elected him with more than 16mn votes,” he said.
“The intention of the drug war is to save the youth of this country. The president therefore has to weigh the interests of the many against those of the few,” Roque added.
Also yesterday, Bayan Muna party-list congressman Colmenares said a supplemental pleading was being prepared for filing before ICC after President Duterte’s supposed admission of his “sin.”
“We are now preparing a supplemental pleading to be filed before the ICC. We are gathering the official transcripts of Malacanang…And secondly, the video of the speech. The third item in the supplemental pleading will be those killed after the complaint was filed last month,” Colmenares said.
Colmenares is among the lawyers for the families who have filed a “communication” before the ICC — the world’s only permanent war crimes court — against Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity. The families were kin of victims of alleged extrajudicial killings.
“Under Rule 130, Section 26 (of the Rules of Court), an admission by a party or a person can be used as evidence against him,” Colmenares said.
The supplemental pleading will be filed next week, he said in a forum in Quezon City.
In a chance interview in Manila, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that it was not for her to agree or disagree with senators’ statements that what Duterte said was an admission.
“It’s not for me to agree or disagree. The president knows what he’s doing. Having been President, I know he’s not….he should not be getting so many comments from the peanut gallery,” Arroyo said. In a statement issued on yesterday, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said Duterte’s statement was “a clear admission of guilt.”