Former president Rodrigo Duterte (left), Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. (Bong Go Facebook, Quad-comm media)

House quad-committee (quad-comm) co-chairman Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. says former president Rodrigo Duterte's admission on the existence of a "death squad" during his time in power is "binding". 

This, as Abante echoed the stance of some of his congressmen-colleagues that Duterte was "criminally liable" on the strength of his admissions during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing. 

"That is binding on him, yun kanyang admission in the Senate hearing (what he said during the Senate hearing)," the Manila lawmaker said during a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 29. 

In the Senate hearing Monday, Oct. 28, Duterte confirmed that death squads were real, and that all the retired generals who became Davao City police chiefs during his time became part of death squads. 

"Ako'y nagpapasalamat sa ating former president na at least naging honest siya. Inamin niya kasi nung tinanong namin si Col. [Lito] Patay, wala raw DDS (Davao Death Squad) eh," Abante said. 

(I thank the former president for at least being honest. He admitted it, but when we asked Col. Patay he denied the existence of DDS.) 

"Ngayon, yung dating pangulo na nagsabi na meron--noong mayor pa siya ha, meron. Eh nung pangulo na niya? Hindi pwedeng sabihing wala na yun eh," said the pastor-preacher. 

(Now, the former president himself said there was a DDS--when he was still mayor, there was a DDS. How about his time as president? We can't say that there wasn't any.) 

Before serving as chief executive from 2016 to 2022, Duterte was a multi-term mayor of Davao City. 

The quad-comm in the House of Representatives is currently looking into the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs, wherein as many as 30,000 were thought to have been killed.

 

Crimes against humanity 

The Blue Ribbon panel's hearing is a parallel probe to quad-comm inquiry. 

Abante further explained that the killings that took place under the Duterte drug war meet all the elements of willful killing as a crime against humanity under Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) No.9851. 

The particular statute refers to the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity. 

"First, it involved the willful killings affected thousands of civilians. Second, the victims were primarily civilians, suspected by police authorities to be involved in drug-related activities," Abante said. 

"Third, these killings occurred in a widespread, systematic attack across various cities, municipalities, and provinces throughout the Philippines. And fourth, these killings were executed under a State or organizational policy, namely, the anti-drug campaign of former the former president, which included a national system of rewards within the police hierarchy,” he added. 

“The facts are clear… willful killings affected thousands of civilians, with the International Criminal Court estimating between 12,000 and 30,000 deaths between July 2016 and March 2019 alone,” Abante further said. 

He underscored that the victims were primarily civilians, targeted based on mere suspicions of involvement in drug-related activities, and that these killings were part of a systematic campaign. 

Abante stressed the former president’s accountability for what he termed the “shortcomings” of his anti-drug campaign. 
 

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“Former President Rodrigo Duterte himself took responsibility for the ‘shortcomings’ of his administration’s war on drugs. ‘Shortcomings’ that led to the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children,” he declared. 

“In speaking directly about the extrajudicial killings perpetrated during the war on drugs, Duterte admitted, under oath, that he ‘alone takes full legal responsibility’ for the actions of his subordinates,” he noted. 

Echoing other House members, Abante called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to utilize Duterte’s admission in its the ongoing investigation into the crimes committed the latter's aggressive anti-narcotics campaign. 

“We have taken one step closer to holding Duterte accountable, but this is not the end. I urge our justice system to respond swiftly, to file charges, to conduct investigations, and to ensure that justice is served. The blood of thousands cries out for justice, and we owe it to every Filipino to answer that call,” said the Manila lawmaker.