House members are expecting that more witnesses will come out to testify against former president Rodrigo Duterte and his allies following his arrest on the orders of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Fear among potential witnesses and whistleblowers is beginning to dissipate, Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega and House Assistant Majority Leader Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon said in press conference Wednesday, March 12.

Ortega said that those who were once afraid to speak out may now find the courage to testify against Duterte and his allies.

"'Yun nga, 'yung iba naman kinakain na ng konsensya (Others are perhaps also being eaten by their conscience)," Ortega said.

He added that Duterte's case is ultimately about serving justice to the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs).

“Gusto nila na mabawasan na ‘yung iniisip nila dahil sabi ko nga, this is a story of justice at lahat ng kuwento kailangan may katapusan (They want to unburden themselves from what they have in mind). And like I said, this is a story of justice and all stories have an ending)," he said.

"We have to finish this story, and therefore, sabi ko nga, ang bida dito, ang dapat makamit ng hustisya eh ‘yung mga biktima po at tsaka ‘yung mga nakita natin na pamilya nila (Like what I said, the main characters here are the victims and their families, and they need to attain justice),” he added.

Meanwhile, Bongalon noted that past efforts to investigate the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war were limited, leaving many victims with no avenue to seek justice.

“If we really observe what happened during the past administration, there was no thorough and comprehensive investigation about the EJK,” Bongalon said.

He pointed out that congressional investigations, including those led by the House of Representatives through the quad-comm, served as a platform for individuals to shed light on the implementation of the drug war.

“In fact, one of the actions taken by the House of Representatives is the investigation about the EJK, the drugs, the POGO and other controversies. With that investigation, it served as a platform for persons to really enlighten regarding the implementation of the bloody war on drugs,” he said.

Bongalon recalled that several figures, including controversial police officers like Col. Jovie Espenido, had testified before Congress regarding the drug war.

“So, with this development, I guess people will have courage to testify and speak what they know about this bloody war on drugs, especially on the part of the victims, the families of the victims probably," he said.

"I expect that people will come out and speak their grievances,” he added.