MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ), through its newly formed task force, is now investigating former president Rodrigo Duterte’s possible culpability for the killing of thousands in his drug war, based on an existing local law that defines and penalizes crimes against humanity.

At a briefing yesterday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the DOJ probe is based on Republic Act 9851 or an Act Defining and Penalizing Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity, organizing jurisdiction and designating special courts, if necessary.

“Yes. Our task force is doing that now,” Remulla said when asked if the DOJ task force is investigating the former president.

He said the task force’s probe will cover “everything,” although he acknowledged there may be some overlapping with the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“We are talking about several laws that will come into play. They will overlap. Then we will choose our strategy later,” the DOJ chief said.

“We want the charges to be separate from each other. What we charge here and what the ICC charges, if possible, should not overlap,” he stressed.

The DOJ issued Department Order 778 on Nov. 4, creating a task force to investigate extrajudicial killings that Duterte admitted having ordered as part of his war on drugs. Duterte made the admission during hearings by the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee and by the quad committee of the House of Representatives.

Chaired by a senior assistant state prosecutor and co-chaired by a regional prosecutor, the task force includes nine members from the National Prosecution Service (NPS), with support from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The task force is ordered to conduct investigations, build up cases and file charges against perpetrators of summary executions of drug suspects.

It is also instructed to coordinate with the quad comm and the Senate Blue Ribbon committee in its investigation and submit a report to Remulla not later than 60 days from the issuance of DO 778.

According to DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, the task force’s investigation is not only limited to the drug war killings during the Duterte administration but would also cover all cases of EJKs classified as murder or homicide.

He explained that murder and homicide cases have a prescriptive period of 20 years under Philippine laws, which means that complaints must be filed within that period. The investigation, Vasquez said, will also include cold cases.

At a Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing, Duterte admitted forming a “death squad” in Davao City composed of gangsters and rich people eager to kill drug suspects and criminals.

He also admitted under oath that during his time as president and as mayor of Davao City, he had ordered police to “encourage” suspects of crimes to fight back and “draw their guns” so that the officers would have a justification to kill them.

Official police records show more than 7,000 people killed during Duterte’s bloody drug war. Rights groups, however, estimate that as many as 30,000 mostly poor suspects were killed by officers and vigilantes.

Meanwhile, Malacañang yesterday dismissed as a mere “hallucination” Duterte’s claim that it was behind former senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s recent tirades against him.

“You know it is hard to fall for that because that’s a hallucination,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told reporters in Filipino at Malacañang.

Trillanes, a fierce critic of Duterte, told the quad comm last Wednesday that Duterte’s drug war was “fake,” as it was used by the former president to shield and protect his own drug syndicate.

The former senator claimed that competitors in the narcotics trade were inserted in Duterte’s drugs list and then killed.

Trillanes also reiterated his allegation that Duterte and his family got P2.4 billion through bank deposits tied to the illicit drug business. Trillanes first raised the allegation in 2016 before the presidential elections that Duterte eventually won.

The former senator also challenged Duterte to sign a waiver on the opening of his joint bank account with his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte.

The former president agreed and even expressed readiness to hang himself if Trillanes’ claims would turn out to be true.

However, he changed his mind and refused to sign a waiver.

In a phone call with his former chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo last Thursday, the former president described Trillanes as “Malacañang-sponsored” and claimed that the former senator was working for President Marcos.

Panelo said Duterte is planning to file charges against Trillanes over his claims against him and his family. — Alexis Romerophfun

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