While it had been confirmed by his key Senate ally days earlier, former president Rodrigo Duterte still surprised many when he appeared at the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee’s inaugural hearing on illegal drugs on Monday, October 28.
The House of Representatives was the first chamber to launch a probe into extrajudicial killings and Duterte’s drug war, but Duterte chose to appear in the upper chamber, where some of his allies like Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa sit as lawmakers.
Duterte further stunned everyone on Monday when he admitted some allegations thrown at him in relation to his drug war that killed as many as 30,000 people, according to human rights groups.
Here are the admissions he made and what they mean:
Encouraging suspects to ‘fight back’ to justify killings
The former president said he told his police to encourage suspects to fight back so cops can justify killing these alleged criminals.
“Ang sinabi ko, ganito, prangkahan tayo. Encourage the criminals to fight. Encourage them to draw their guns. Iyan ang instruction ko…. Encourage them lumaban. Pagka lumaban, patayin ninyo para matapos na ang problema ko sa siyudad ko,” Duterte said. “Noong nagpresidente ako, ganoon din sa command conference, [riyan] sa Malacañang, iyan ang utos ko.”
(I told them this, let’s be frank. Encourage the criminals to fight. Encourage them to draw their guns. That’s my instruction…. Encourage them to fight back. If they fight back, kill them to so my city will be free of its problems. When I became the president, I told the police the same thing during my command conference in Malacañang, that’s also my order.)
Killing suspects is part of Duterte’s rhetoric whenever he talks about his anti-crime policy in public. Speaking in a military camp in Mawab, Compostela Valley in September 2016, Duterte told soldiers to kill criminals whether or not the latter pull out a gun, and that he would “pardon” anyone convicted of killing “in the line of duty.” Prior this, he said law enforcers should shoot criminals if they violently resist arrest.
In his first press conference after winning the presidency in May 2016, Duterte also said he would give law enforcers “shoot-to-kill” orders as his administration waged a so-called war against criminality. Still in 2016, Duterte said he planned to offer P3 million for the capture or death of alleged drug lords.
Death squad
During the early parts of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing, Duterte refused to confirm the existence of his so-called death squad. But later, the former president and Davao City mayor did.
“I can make the confession now if you want. Talagang niyayari ko…. Mayroon akong death squad, death squad, pero hindi iyong mga pulis. Sila rin iyong mga gangster,” Duterte said. (I really go after them. I have a death squad, but not the police. They were gangsters.)
When opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros noted that this supposed death squad was used in the drug war that led to thousands of extrajudicial killings, Duterte affirmed Hontiveros’ statement. Duterte also said that there were seven people in his self-described death squad, adding that group was organized to fight criminals.
When asked for the names, Duterte claimed that all of the death squad members were dead. The former president added that these alleged death squad members are “rich people” from Davao City who wanted to kill criminals “because they want their city to be safe” and “because they want business to thrive.”
It has long been alleged that Duterte maintained his so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) when he was Davao City mayor. During a DDS Senate probe led by former senator Leila de Lima in September 2016, self-confessed DDS member Edgar Matobato claimed that Duterte created the DDS and tapped them to execute suspects and criminals in the city.
Another whistleblower, self-confessed DDS hitman Arturo Lascañas, corroborated Matobato’s revelations about the DDS. In his affidavit accepted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) probing the killings under Duterte, Lascañas detailed how they accepted kill orders from Duterte and some of the former president’s trusted allies. DDS members, according to Lascañas, referred to Duterte as “superman.”
Lascañas has already been granted immunity by the ICC.
Recently, retired police colonel Royina Garma, an alleged DDS member and former cop close to Duterte, indirectly confirmed Duterte’s DDS. In her testimony before the House quad committee, Garma said Duterte instructed her to find a police officer to replicate the so-called “Davao template,” a system where drug criminals were allegedly killed and police were rewarded for successful kill operations.
Garma said she introduced former National Police Commission (Napolcom) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo to Duterte. Leonardo allegedly became the chief strategist of the nationwide implementation of an anti-drug campaign patterned after the “Davao template.” The former Napolcom commissioner also later confirmed Garma’s testimony.
Police as death squad commanders
During the hearing, Duterte claimed that some of his police chiefs became alleged commanders of the death squad, like Dela Rosa. He said all the police generals in the Senate session hall during the hearing all led death squads precisely because they killed in the line of duty.
The police generals Duterte was referring to were Dela Rosa; former police chiefs Archie Gamboa, Vicente Danao, and Debold Sinas; former drugs board chairperson Catalino Cuy; and Police Major General Romeo Caramat.
“‘Yong isang senador diyan, si Senator Dela Rosa, death squad din ‘yan because they were police directors handling, controlling crimes in the city. Kapag sinabi mong death squad, it’s a very loose term. Lahat ito, si Cuy, si Danao ‘ayan o nagdadasal. Kasalanan niya siguro. Ilan ba pinatay mo?” Duterte said.
(One of the senators there, Senator Dela Rosa, he was also part of the death squad because they were police directors handling, controlling crimes in the city. When you say death squad, it’s a very loose term. All of these men — Cuy, even Danao who’s now praying. Maybe that’s his sin. How many did you kill?)
In his affidavit, Lascañas listed the roles of several police officers in Duterte’s death squad.
Lascañas said Dela Rosa carried out kill orders from Duterte for years in Davao, then took them to the national level when he became the PNP chief. Danao, meanwhile, was accused by Lascañas of being behind a series of crimes in Davao City, including the killings of suspected gold swindlers, the abduction and killing of suspected shoplifters, the killing of Toyota-Davao employees, and the alleged assassination of a former DDS member.
Although he was not mentioned in the affidavit, Caramat was said to be among the police officers whom the ICC wanted to interview in its Duterte drug war probe.
So, what now?
With all of these admissions, what would happen now? For ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti, Duterte’s latest remarks strengthened the basis for the issuance of a warrant against those involved in the ICC probe.
“But beyond his sociopathic lies, he has consistently admitted to ordering, goading, and orchestrating murders, and to being most responsible for it all. This is enough to reinforce evidence before the International Criminal Court for a warrant of arrest in the course of the ongoing investigation. Duterte is dangerous, then and now, in or out of office,” Conti told Rappler in a message.
Human rights lawyer and Free Legal Assistance Group chairperson Chel Diokno said Duterte’s admission serves as “damning evidence” that can be used against him in court.
“Kitang-kita naman ng buong bayan na galing sa kanya mismo ang pag-amin na iyon. Sa amin po, malakas na malakas na ebidensiya iyan,” Diokno said during the Senate hearing. (The whole nation saw that the admission directly came from Duterte. For us, that’s strong evidence already.)
On Tuesday, House human rights committee chairperson and quad committee co-chairperson Bienvenido Abante said Duterte’s admissions before the Senate also make him liable for crimes against humanity.
The ICC is now at the phase in its probe were ICC prosecutor Karim Khan can issue either warrants or summons against those tagged in their investigation. This comes after the ICC appeals chamber junked the Philippine government’s appeal against the probe in 2023, essentially giving a green light to the investigation. – Rappler.com