Investigating alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that occurred during the controversial drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was met with difficulty due to a lack of pertinent records and necessary evidence.
In the hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Thursday, March 20, Remulla said that EJK victims were compelled to file cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC) since they failed to get justice in Philippine courts.
Remulla said this after Senator Imee Marcos expressed concern that the families of the victims of the so-called EJK were compelled to file lawsuits abroad due to the failure of the local justice system and that the courts are no longer functioning.
She pointed out that it's clear that the ICC is a court of last resort, and citizens can avail of it should courts here in the Philippines be unwilling or unable to handle the case.
"Yung problema nga ho rito kasi, yung mga nangyari lalo na sa Mindanao, wala ho talagang paggalaw ang mga fiscal nung panahon na yun. Di talaga gumagalaw ang kaso (The problem here is that, especially with what happened in Mindanao, the prosecutors were completely inactive during that time. The cases just weren't progressing at all)," Remulla said.
"Meron hong mga nagtangkang magreklamo ngunit wala pong nangyari kaya sila nagpunta sila sa ICC (Some attempted to file complaints, but nothing happened, so they went to the ICC)," he added.
Remulla told Marcos that they would look for these cases.
With Duterte's arrest, and ICC handling the case, Marcos said that it seems that current cabinet is admitting that the judiciary system, the courts, are no longer functioning properly, as all the representatives who were present have acknowledged.
Remulla explained that these victims have gone to the ICC for several years now which isn't something new. He said that they were already filing complaints to the ICC in 2016 and 2017 during Duterte's administration.
He added that they didn't just go there three years ago; they were there 8 or 9 years ago.
Marcos asked Remulla to give them a list of the cases that were filed in the Philippines but never prospered.
Remulla also stated that at the height of the anti-drug war, there was a time when nothing happened to EJK cases since they could not get police reports which made it difficult to start an investigation. He also mentioned the lack of concrete evidence such as ballistic reports during that time, stating that it's mostly just testimonial evidence.
"Sa drug war po walang blotter ang pulis. Marami ngang walang blotter eh. Ang problema nga ho dito, napakarami hong namatay na death certificate niya nakalagay cardiac arrest pero may butas po sa ulo mula sa bala (In the drug war, the police don't have any reports. Many incidents go unreported. The real problem here is that there are numerous deaths where the death certificate states cardiac arrest, but there are bullet holes in the head)," he added.
He also admitted problems were encountered during that time because even the prosecutors were being intimidated by the police.
Currently, Remulla said that things are a lot better because they are ensuring that the prosecutors and the police work together to investigate crimes and that it's no longer like before, where whatever the police said had to be followed.
If things are better now Marcos asked Remulla why not just file a case here in the Philippines since it seems things have improved.
"Di ko ho pwedeng tanungin yun sa mga nagdemanda sa ICC. Di naman po namin hawak yung mga taong yun eh, di namin sila kilala (I can't ask that of the people who filed the case at the ICC. We don't have any connection to those individuals; we don't know them)," he replied.