Top officials, allies in Congress included in ICC raps vs. Duterte

CRIMES VS. HUMANITY

Published April 24, 2017 5:55pm

By KATHRINA CHARMAINE ALVAREZ, GMA News

President Rodrigo Duterte's top allies in both the executive and the legislative branches of government were included in the raps filed against him before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

In a 77-page complaint, lawyer Jude Sabio tagged the officials for supposedly aiding Duterte in committing crimes against humanity while pursuing a nationwide crackdown on drug dealers and peddlers.

They include Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Richard Gordon, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Solictor General Jose Calida and National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran.

The complaint cited Aguirre’s statement that “drug addicts have no human rights because they are not humans.”

The complaint said such statement made him "criminally liable because he [was] contributing to the commission of the crime.”

It was also mentioned that Aguirre was the lawyer of Bienvenido Laud in the search warrant controversy involving the quarry where supposed victims of the DDS were buried.

On Dela Rosa, the complaint said the PNP chief had knowledge and failed to stop the supposed criminal activities of the DDS in Davao City as alleged by Matobato and Arturo Lascañas.

“In the war on drugs at the national level, dela Rosa knows about the activities of the death squads targeting suspected drug personalities,” the complaint said.

Sabio said Dela Rosa should also be held liable for his public statements supporting Oplan Tokhang.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was also named one of the respondents for uttering statements that “clearly incite violence and mass murder, or further in a certain way, fulfill the criminal purpose of President Duterte.”

Also included in the complaint were:

Gierran for supposedly failing to investigate the widespread and systematic killings happening under the Duterte administration;

Calida for promising to defend policemen accused of summary killings

Gordon, chairman of the Senate justice committee, for “holding that there are extrajudicial killings committed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) operating under Duterte administration’s campaign against drugs but ultimately concluding that these killings are not state-sponsored”

Cayetano “for aiding and abetting the killings brought by the war on the drugs through his speeches and public pronouncements”

Former Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno should be held liable, said Sabio, for allowing barangay and police officials to carry out Oplan Tokhang.

Supt. Edilberto Leonardo, now assigned to the Manila Police District (MPD), formerly assigned to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of Police Regional Operations, was tagged for supposedly helping design and operate the reward system for the war on drugs at the national level.

SPO4 Sanson “Sonny” Buenaventura was included in the complaint for his alleged role in facilitating the transfer of reward money to those who kill, as well as his direct involvement in the Davao Death Squad in Davao City.

Supt. Royina Garma for her alleged violations in the implementation of Oplan Tokhang under her direction as head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 7. —NB, GMA News

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/608194/top-officials-allies-in-congress-included-in-icc-raps-vs-duterte/story