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Former President Rodrigo Duterte finally appeared before the House quad committee on Wednesday, where he not only reiterated that he would assume full responsibility for all the killings tied to his brutal war on drugs but also dared the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “come here and start the investigation tomorrow.”
In an exchange with Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, the 79-year-old Duterte said he “assume[s] full responsibility for whatever happened in the actions taken by the law enforcement agencies of this country, to stop the drugs, or the serious problem of the drugs affecting our people.”
He dared the ICC whose prosecutorial arm is currently investigating him for alleged crimes against humanity to “hurry up and to come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” a line he would repeat throughout the hearing.
“This issue has been left hanging for so many years. It’s been so long ma’am, I might die soon, and they might never get to investigate me,” he said. “Let them come here, and if I am found guilty, I will rot in prison.”
Addressing questions later from Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, Duterte said he was not scared of the ICC “even a bit.’’
“They can come here anytime. I suppose that you would want to make it easy to visit and start the investigation. I would welcome that. I don’t have anything to hide.”
His remarks appeared to be an about-face from his initial position while in power that the ICC had no jurisdiction over the Philippines, a stance he solidified by pulling the country out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the tribunal, in March 2019.
The ICC last year cleared the way for an investigation into the thousands of deaths and other suspected rights abuses in the Duterte crackdown, after its Appeals Chamber voted 3-2 to rule that its prosecutors still had jurisdiction over the alleged crimes because they occurred when the Philippines was still an ICC member.
According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in antidrug operations under Duterte’s presidency, during which police typically said they were forced to kill suspects in self-defense.
Human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unidentified gunmen.
The former President arrived at the Batasang Pambansa early Wednesday after the four-committee body led by Surigao del Norte Rep.
