Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, who has represented the families of drug war victims and a counsel of complainants before the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that the testimony of Duterte exposes the narrative of “nanlaban” as false, rendering the police’s claim of self-defense obsolete.
“The victims, families, have to rely on their own resources. They did not receive any sort of help from the government, especially from the police,” said Ephraim Cortez, president of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).
The group said that Duterte is not only responsible for the thousands of drug-related killings but also for the summary execution of 422 political activists and the frustrated extrajudicial killing of 544 others.
In the first six months of the Marcos Jr administration, the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center documented 12 children killed. In 2023, 20 children died in Caloocan and Manila alone.
“If the ‘war on drugs’ were effective, the proliferation of illegal drugs would no longer be an issue. If domestic investigations were efficient, I wouldn’t be here asking for help again.”
“The GovPH argues that its criminal justice system generally functions well, and that certain administrative and other mechanisms may or can result in criminal proceedings. However, nothing in the observations nor in the hundreds of pages of associated annexes substantiates that criminal proceedings actually have been or are being conducted in anything more than a small number of cases.”
“Withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member. Consequently, liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs [during the Duterte administration] is not nullified or negated.”
“What can we expect from someone who has shamelessly branded victims of human rights violations — people who have been killed, disappeared, tortured, illegally arrested and detained, among others — during his father’s dictatorial rule as greedy people who are only after money?”
“Under the Rome Statute’s core principle of complementarity, States always have the first opportunity to investigate allegations of such crimes committed on their territory or by their nationals. However, when national authorities fail to act, the Court must step in, and that is why I have filed today’s application.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth than claiming that domestic institutions and mechanisms of accountability in the country are ‘fully functional.’”
“Why are only .8% of the 6,151 reported deaths by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency being investigated and reviewed?”