Two incumbent senators – Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go are named co-perperators of former president Rodrigo Duterte in committing crimes against humanity in connection with the war on drugs waged from the time he was mayor of Davao City until he was president.
In a document containing the charges made public by the International Criminal Court Pre-trial Chamber Feb. 13, ahead of the confirmation hearings on Feb. 23, the prosecution described Duterte’s role as “indirect coperpetrator.”
The chamber on Feb. 12 rejected the renewed request of Duterte for an “indefinite adjournment “ of the pre-trial hearings, restating the “clear and unanimous “ conclusion of the members of the panel of experts they had hired to determine the fitness of the 80-year-old defendant that “Mr Duterte possesses the capacities which are necessary for the meaningful exercise of his procedural and fair trial rights.”
The charge sheet states: “At least between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019, Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including murder.”
Aside from Dela Rosa, former chief of the Philippine National Police and Go, Duterte’s personal aide and special assistant, the other named as co-perperators are former Manila Police District director Vicente Danao, chief of staff in the PNP Office of the Chief of Directorial Staff Camilo Cascolan (deceased), former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former director of the National Bureau of Investigation Dante Gierran, former chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Isidro Lapeña, former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, and other members of the PNP and high-ranking government officials.
Since Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed last November that he had seen a warrant of arrest for Dela Rosa, the senator has not been attending Senate sessions as he has gone in hiding.
The document narrates the role that Dela Rosa and Go performed in Duterte’s killing structure.
“By means of their de jure and/or de facto authority, one or more of the Co-Perpetrators controlled a structure of power—the local police and related DDS hierarchy—that enabled them to control the will of the physical perpetrators. As Mayor, Duterte sat at the apex of the formal police and city structures, with legal control over the PNP units in Davao City, as well as of non-police Davao City Hall workers and barangay (the smallest political and administrative unit in the Philippines) officials who sometimes participated in or facilitated the crimes. The DDS followed a similarly hierarchical structure with Duterte at the top, as the Head of the DDS. At the bottom were the DDS members who physically carried out the crimes (generally non-police hitmen or low-level police), who were subordinated to police or barangay handlers.”
Go has flatly denied the allegations, describing those as “entirely unfounded, one-sided, unfair, and bear no relation” to his functions as special assistant to the president from June 2016 to October 2019 and executive assistant to the mayor of Davao City from 1998 to 2016.
Aguirre likewise disputed the accusation. “i did nothing wrong,” he said in a statement. While confirming that he lawyered for Duterte and some suspected members of the Davao Death Squad, the former secretary of Justice said he “never conspired or participated in any extrajudicial killings.”
The document further said the handlers reported to a combination of police and co-perpetrators, in particular, Dela Rosa, Danao and Sonny Buenaventura, a police officer and Duterte’s driver and bodyguard, and Go, who, in turn, reported to Duterte, whose approval was required for DDS members to conduct killings in Davao City.
The document said during the Duterte presidency, the former president and his co-perpetrators used a national network, including its low-level members, as tools to commit the crimes encompassed by a “common plan.”
Click here for the document containing the charges.
Confirmation hearings will be held on Feb. 23, 24, 26 and 27 starting at 5 p.m. (Manila time).
