FILE A CASE ALREADY

November 18, 2024 Opinion

The war on drugs and extra judicial killings (EJK) being investigated by both Houses of Congress (the lower house and the Senate), in connection with the previous administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been the centerpiece of news and gossip for several weeks now and apparently, due to the appearance of Mr. Duterte in
these hearings as a resource person, enough revelations were made to titillate the public to no end.

However, on a more serious note the admissions made by the former president while being candid enough might strike someone who was affected by the brutality of the war on drugs as someone exhibiting callous indifference to those who are considered victims of the campaign and are of no consequence except as statistics in a graph. Now in light of what the former president has revealed in the Senate investigation as well as the Quadcomm legislative inquiry in the House, we need to ask, are the so called victims of the drug war prepared to file a criminal case in court
against Mr. Duterte for the alleged EJK that happened as a consequence of the campaign to eradicate illegal drugs during his administration?

The former president has already declared that he takes full legal responsibility for the bloody war on drugs that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. By owning up to the intended or unintended result of the war on drugs he is under the law already liable for a criminal act. This was in fact the assertion made by Batangas congresswoman Gerville Luistro during the House Quadcomm investigation that because of such a statement – taking full legal
responsibility for the outcome of the war on drugs – the former president may be considered as being liable for conspiracy to commit a crime, an act punishable by the revise penal code.

Of course it is one thing to contemplate the criminal acts that may have been committed by Mr. Duterte during the
course of his being a former mayor of Davao and former president of the country, and another thing to actually file a
criminal case against him in the court of law. To date the only criminal case that the former president has faced and which was dismissed by the court early this year is a criminal complaint filed by ACT teachers party list
representative France Castro for grave threats. But taking the cue from the statements made by Rep. Castro during the House quadcomm hearings the victims of the drug war and their supporters might finally have the needed
motivation to file criminal charges in court against Mr. Duterte.

It is important to note that the Philippines being a democratic country abides by the legal principle of presumption of innocence or that every person charged or accused of a crime is deemed innocent until proven guilty, and that the authority and decision of a court is needed to make the necessary determination whether such person accused or charged with a crime is guilty or not. From this premise then a democratic government which respects the legal principle of presumption of innocence will always find it abhorrent when a person suspected of being involved of a crime is killed by reason of such suspicion.

The statement of Duterte that he gave instructions to cops to encourage criminals to fight so that they can be killed by the authorities is already an admission by the former president that he does not believe or respect the principle of presumption of innocence particularly those he claims are drug addicts or pushers. By ignoring such presumption he
was able to manipulate the minds and belief of the policemen under his watch that all those alleged drug addicts and pushers are already guilty and that by egging them to fight back will be justification enough to snuff out their lives.

By conveniently taking out of the equation the need for these suspected drug addicts and pushers to be brought
before the courts in order to find out whether they are indeed guilty of the crime imputed against them the former
president is most certainly liable and accountable for such deliberate negligence. And by admitting that he instructed
cops to encourage these suspects to fight back so that they can be killed then Mr. Duterte can be doubly considered as being liable for the reprehensible act of instigation or “the responsibility for initiating or encouraging someone else’s action”. Actions have consequences and former president Duterte knows this. Given his recent statements in the Senate and the Lower House it appears that he is very much willing to face the music and so the challenge now is for those who were alleged victims of the drug war to file the necessary criminal case in court against the former president.