THE government is not interested in providing access to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the findings of the ongoing House quad committee investigation regarding extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the bloody war on drugs of the Duterte administration.
Last Monday, October 14, Malacañang rejected the call for the Marcos administration to pass on the revelations of key witnesses in the hearings to the ICC to assist in its own investigation into EJKs. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin stated, “The Philippines will not return to the ICC.”
He added, “Based on this, the President is not expected to change his mind and now refer the quad comm matter to the ICC.”
Bersamin’s statement was in response to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers’ call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to submit the quad committee materials to the ICC. Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde also mentioned that it would be better for the government to cooperate with the ICC by allowing investigators access to witnesses and their testimonies, following retired Police Col. Royina Garma’s revelations regarding the drug war.
In a virtual press briefing last Monday, quad committee lead chair Rep. Robert Ace Barbers also affirmed that the super panel has no plans to turn over any of its records or documents to the ICC. Barbers stated, “We cannot submit anything to the ICC. We cannot even allow them access to our records. But if they use the proceedings under different social media platforms.”
