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AFTER former President Rodrigo Duterte’s revelation that he ordered police to “encourage” drug suspects to fight back for them to be killed by cops during the anti-drug war campaign in his term, Senator Risa Hontiveros has urged the Department of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to use the former president’s statement to build a case a against him.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing on the drug war in the previous administration on October 28, Duterte admitted that there was a death squad in his bailiwick in Davao but denied that this squad is composed of police officials.

The lady senator said she hopes that investigators of the DOJ and the ICC will review all the confessions and admissions made under oath by Duterte during the hearing.

She said the war on drugs under Duterte’s watch was subject to abuses and many innocent people, including babies, were victims of “systematic abuse”

“At sa lahat ng nagsasabi na ang War on Drugs ay parusa daw para sa mga naliligaw ang landas, my message to you is this: there is no honor in punishment like tokhang. It should not be an honor to be called “The Punisher” when thousands of innocent people, including babies, have died in your name” Hontiveros said.

For his part, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said that he would be “greatly disappointed if the international body will be the first one to request, rather than a Philippine group, group of Filipinos”.

Pimentel is referring to the transcripts of the hearing that would be made available to the public, and that could be used as evidence.

As of now, there’s no request yet for the transcript, according to Pimentel.

During the hearing, while admitting that there’s a death squad, the former president also denied that there was a reward system for police personnel who could kill drug personalities.

Duterte’s denial contradicted the revelation of former PCSO general manager and retired police colonel officer Royina Garma, who is said to have a close relationship with the former president.(LAO)

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