Duterte Senate testimony legally a 'super disaster'

Take it from an international law expert. Former president Rodrigo Duterte's admission under oath on Tuesday – that he had a "death squad" for illegal drug users and "other criminals" – may be used against him by the Philippine courts and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

- SATUR C. OCAMPO

Duterte's admission, made at the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing, allowed him to defend himself politically, conceded Antonio Gabriel La Viña, who is currently a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

"He made a lot of political points because he controlled his allies, he had drama. So maybe his die-hard supporters were really enthralled," said the former dean of the Ateneo de Manila University law college.

"But, substance-wise, it was a disaster, legally speaking," in facing the ICC and Philippine courts. "This is just like a confirmation of everything he said before, encouraging basically extrajudicial killings," La Viña told the Business Mirror, which sought his reaction to Duterte's testimony.

Since 2017, the ICC has been investigating the "crimes against humanity of murder" in the context of the "war on drugs" campaign, started in the latter part of Duterte's 20 years as mayor of Davao City until he was elected president in 2016. He had promised to end the illegal drugs problem in the country within the first six months of his six-year term in office.

The ICC probe covered the period from Nov. 1, 2011, when the international court gained jurisdiction over heinous crimes under the Rome Statute, until March 16, 2019. (The Rome Statute is the international treaty that created the ICC, which came into force in Aug. 20, 2011.)

The Philippines, whose delegation campaigned hard to establish the ICC, was a signatory to the treaty. But after the ICC chief prosecutor concluded a preliminary examination on his "war on drugs," finding grounds to recommend a formal investigation, Duterte arbitrarily withdrew the country's membership in the treaty on March 16, 2018.