The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Thursday, September 16, that it will study and consider any request from the International Criminal Court (ICC) with regard to the launch of its investigation into the Duterte administration's "war" against illegal drugs.

At the House Committee on Appropriation's deliberation on the constitutional body's P867.25-million proposed budget for 2022, CHR chairman Jose Luis Martin "Chito" Gascon said that the ICC probe will be separate from any of investigations being conducted by their agency on the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed during the government's controversial anti-drug campaign.

"That is a matter entirely within the control and operations of the International Criminal Court. There is no direct or immediate relationship of the work of the Commission of Human Rights with the operations that will be undertaken by the Office of the Prosecutor as it conducts its investigation," Gascon responded when asked on the CHR's role on the upcoming probe.

But the CHR has yet to receive any formal communication from the international court about the probe, he said.

"Nonetheless, your honors, should we receive a formal communication and a formal request from the ICC, we will take whatever they present to us...under consideration at the appropriate time," he told the lawmakers.

"Right now, it is speculative," Gascon said.

"So we will have to just wait and see if there will be a request," he added.

Gascon maintained in the hearing that the CHR's mandate to investigate the alleged EJKs by state forces was provided under the 1987 Constitution, and not with the Rome Statute which created the ICC.

The CHR head, however, recognized that the killings to be investigated by the ICC could also include the cases that they are probing.

PNP not fully cooperating?

In their presentation to the House panel, the CHR noted a total of 3,423 "drug related EJKs" from May, 2016, to August 31, 2021.

While saying the CHR has been working "very closely" with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), Gascon lamented still having difficulties in accessing government documents related to the drug war.

"Speaking frankly, your honor, we have found difficulty in recent years in terms of securing the full cooperation of law enforcement institution, particularly the Philippine National Police," he said.

He recalled the CHR asking the PNP for full access to their records, which has been "difficult to achieve".

For instance, he cited the PNP reporting over 6,000 deaths in its anti-drug operations, while the CHR only has more than 3,000 in its dockets.

"So that means we haven't reached a hundred-percent full investigation on the number of cases that we could potentially be investigating," Gascon said.

But Gascon said the CHR "always tr to look forward" since the Philippine government has signed in July an agreement with the United Nations (UN) on a joint programme for improving the human rights situation in the country.

"If it will be complied with, we expect that there will be progress in terms of our ability as CHR to review all relevant documents," he said.

Incumbent PNP chief General Guillermo Eleazar previously denied that there was cover-up of the wrongdoings in their ranks.

Eleazar also maintained that it "has never been a policy of the PNP to kill" in its anti-drug operations.

The pre-trial chamber of the ICC has given the green light to investigate the alleged EJKs that occurred under the drug war between November 1, 2011 to March, 2019.

President Duerte has pulled out the Philippines from the Rome Statute, refusing to cooperate with the ICC's probe on his drug war.