PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has remained firm on his stand against the country’s renewal of membership to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Based on this, the President is not expected to change his mind and now refer the quadcom matter to the ICC,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement on Monday, October 14, 2024.
This is in response to the call of lawyer Kristina Conti, who is an ICC accredited assistant to counsel, for Marcos to effect the submission of the testimony of retired Police Colonel Royina Garma in relation to the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration to the body.
“We urge President Marcos to submit the QuadComm investigation materials to the ICC for inclusion in the prosecution's case build-up on crimes against humanity committed in the Philippines,” Conti said in a statement.
“Garma's testimony establishes a pattern in the killings and fingers the 'most responsible' behind all the incidents,” she added.
Marcos earlier said that the ICC is considered a threat to the country’s sovereignty, noting that the Philippines has its own working judicial system.
The ICC is investigating an alleged crime against humanity of murder in the Philippines related to the controversial bloody drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019, before the latter ordered the withdrawal of the Philippine’s membership to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.
Duterte and former Philippine National Police (PNP) now Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the chief implementer of the drug war, were named as principal respondents in the ICC case, which was participated to by several families of the over 6,000 drug suspects killed by the police in the implementation of the crackdown against illegal drugs.
During the continuation of the House quad-committee hearing on Friday, October 11, Garma directly implicated Duterte to the EJKs carried out by the police during the controversial drug war under the Duterte administration.
The panel is looking into the possible link between the proliferation of illegal operations of Pogos, illegal drug trade, anomalous land acquisitions, and EJKs under Duterte’s watch.
Garma presented a matrix suggesting that former PNP chiefs were aware of these covert operations.
In her sworn affidavit, Garma implicated retired Colonel Edilberto Leonardo as a key figure in implementing the Davao model, which refers to an anti-illegal drugs system involving payments and rewards in three levels: reward if the suspect is killed, funding of planned operations, and refund of operational expenses.
Garma said Leonardo collaborated with Duterte and his aide, now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, to establish a new task force comprising the so-called “liquidators” across the country.
Leonardo resigned as a National Police Commission (Napolcom) commissioner amid the ongoing controversies.
Garma and Leonardo were accused as the masterminds in the killing of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary, retired general Wesley Barayuga. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)