A MANILA congressman has said former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is neither a hero nor God and does not have the power to exonerate rouge policemen and hired guns who committed extrajudicial killings in the name of his bloody war on drugs.
“He is not a hero. He is not God. He is not the law. He is not above the law. He is a plague,” Rep. Rolando Valeriano, a member of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said.
He said the country’s laws hold liable the perpetrations of crimes who are principals, conspirators, accomplices and accessories.
“It is not up to former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte to determine who are criminally, civilly, and administratively liable for crimes committed during his brutal war on drugs. His acceptance of legal responsibility for the criminal and inhumane war on drugs does not absolve others of liability,” he said.
He added that true to form, Duterte, with this declaration that he alone should be held responsible, was just “grandstanding, in a feeble attempt to project strength to those hoodlum cops who committed crimes in his name, upon his orders, and with the promise of monetary rewards for suspects killed and arrested.”
Valeriano pointed out that the House Quad Comm is looking forward to the former leader’s promise to attend its inquiry.
“The House has its own sets of questions intended to unearth the truth and the facts. Our findings and recommendations will be based on evidence. We will forward our findings to the DOJ,” he said.
He explained that it’s the DOJ or the Office of the Ombudsman that initially ascertain liability through probable cause determination, and that it’s the courts that would determine eventually guilt.
He said Duterte, being a former president, does not enjoy immunity from prosecution.
“There are no pending criminal cases against the former president, but he does have pending charges before the International Criminal Court. Those ICC charges he will have to face first. It will take a while for either the DOJ or Ombudsman to file criminal charges and to decide whether and how he will be turned over to the Interpol, which implements arrest orders of the ICC,” he said.
There have been speculations that the ICC was about to issue arrest warrants for Duterte and principal implementers of his bloody war on drugs, including his PNP chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
