House tags Duterte, et al. for ‘crimes against humanity’

MANILA, Philippines — The House quad committee on Wednesday said former President Rodrigo Duterte, Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, two former Philippine National Police chiefs and two other ranking police officers should be charged with crimes against humanity in the bloody drug war that killed thousands of Filipinos.

Quad committee chair and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said this was the megapanel’s recommendation as it presented its report to the plenary on the last session day of Congress before it adjourned for the Christmas break.

The 43-page report—culled after 13 hearings from Aug. 16 to Dec. 12—contained a summary of their evidence, legislative proposals and recommendations addressing the interconnected issues of extrajudicial killings, offshore gaming and the illegal drug trade.

“What began as a separate investigation by individual committees soon uncovered a web of interconnections—a Pandora’s box of crimes and abuses that tested the very foundations of our institutions,” Barbers said.

READ: Duterte takes ‘full legal, moral responsibility’ for drug war

“The most chilling revelations pertain to the extrajudicial killings that have scarred our nation’s history,” he said. “These investigations brought to light a harrowing narrative of abuse of power and institutional impunity during the Duterte administration.”

De Lima’s input

Former Sen. Leila de Lima, who was also one of their resource persons, recommended filing charges against Duterte for violating Republic Act No. 9851, or the Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and other Crimes Against Humanity.

Duterte, Dela Rosa and Go have consistently been identified as among the main architects of the drug war following the template lifted from their hometown Davao City where the former President was a longtime mayor.

In a preliminary report he read last Thursday, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said the quad committee found that Duterte appeared to be the “center” of a “criminal enterprise” that used the drug war to cover its own involvement in the narcotics trade.

Dela Rosa said he was not surprised by the quad committee’s recommendation.

“I expected that [because] their real intention was to demolish the Dutertes and their allies,” Dela Rosa said in a radio interview.

“If Go and I fail in our reelection bids next year, nobody would oppose the impeachment efforts against Vice President Sara Duterte,” he said.

Barbers pointed out that Duterte himself, during their Nov. 13 hearing, assumed full responsibility for the implementation of the brutal campaign that rights groups say killed between 12,000 to 30,000 Filipinos. The Duterte administration officially acknowledged slightly more than 6,000 deaths in the drug war from 2016 to May 2022.

“The former President unequivocally confirmed the existence of the reward system targeting drug personalities and using leftover campaign funds to finance and support the reward system, in contravention of Comelec rules concerning the return of excess campaign funds,” Barbers said.

Albayalde, Sinas, etc

The five other police officers recommended to be charged with violating RA 9861 are former PNP chiefs Oscar Albayalde and Debold Sinas, former Cebu police chief Royina Garma, former National Police Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and Go’s aide, Herminia “Muking” Espino.

Garma, Leonardo and Espino are believed to have had a hand in crafting and implementing the reward system that incentivized drug war killings.

The quad committee also recommended charging Garma, Leonardo, Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, former PNP officer Nelson Mariano, Police Senior Master Sgt. Jeremy Causapin, and one alias “Loloy” with masterminding the 2020 killing of Wesley Barayuga, a former board member of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office then headed by Garma.

Barbers said the panel also recommended that Duterte, Garma, Leonardo, former PNP officers Arthur Narsolis and Gerardo Padilla be charged with conspiracy to murder for their alleged involvement in the killing of three Chinese nationals inside the Davao Prison and Penal Farm on Aug. 13, 2016.

Pampanga meth haul

Other recommendations:

• filing charges against Empire 999 incorporators Willie Ong, aka Cai Qimeng and Yang Jiazheng, aka Aedy Tai Yang, who were linked to 360 kilograms of methamphetamine (“shabu”) seized in a Mexico, Pampanga, warehouse in 2023.

• further investigation of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, allegedly a central figure in a web of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos); Yang’s brother, Antonio Yang, owner of multiple businesses in Cagayan de Oro City, including Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp., which was allegedly involved in rice smuggling and human trafficking.

• further investigation of Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, Davao City Councilor Nilo Abellera Jr., former chief of presidential task force for media Paul Gutierrez, former National Irrigation Administration administrator Benny Antiporda, Jojo Bacud, “Tita Nanie” and Allen Capuyan. They were identified as members of the so-called “Davao Group” linked to the illegal drug trade.

• further investigation of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Whirlwind Inc. incorporator Cassandra Li Ong and former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo for their alleged links to illegal Pogos.

The House adopted the report. It will forward it to the “relevant agencies” for action.

Biggest step yet

Should this indeed lead to indictments, this would be the biggest step taken by the Philippine government to give justice to victims of extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s brutal war on drugs.

The government was scored for the lack of prosecution and investigation of the alleged perpetrators. This was why the victims’ families turned to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to charge Duterte for crimes against humanity in relation to the drug war.

This would also be the first instance where a state official would be prosecuted for crimes under RA 9851. There has only been one conviction for violating this law—Junaid Awal of the Maute-Islamic State terrorist group.

“This is a defining moment for this Congress. It is an opportunity to uphold the rule of law, protect our nation’s sovereignty, and deliver justice to those who have been wronged,” Barbers said.

Human rights committee chair and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante said in his sponsorship speech that “the time for reckoning has come.”

‘Competent evidence’

“After 13 rigorous and thorough hearings, we are confident that we have gathered competent evidence to make the appropriate recommendations ... [There] was systematic violation of human rights and blatant disregard of due process,” he said.

Public order and safety chair and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez said that aside from recommending the criminal charges, he wanted to highlight “the abuse and suffering of trafficking victims at the hands of these evil operators” of illegal Pogos.

“The trauma, deaths, would never be rectified by laws alone. Let us not leave them by the wayside,” he said.

Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano, who chairs the committee on public accounts, said the quad panel had identified “compelling evidence” that called for prompt legal action, especially in relation to foreigners using fraud to obtain fake Philippine documents.

It was actually Barbers’ and Paduano’s joint inquiry into the Mexico, Pampanga, shabu bust that triggered the formation of the quad committee in August this year, after they found that Michael Yang was allegedly related to the Empire 999 warehouse incorporators.

—WITH A REPORT FROM MARLON RAMOS

(2024/12/19-05:30)