SA aking aklat “KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et. Al.,” tinalakay ko kung paano nag-umpisa ang sakdal laban kay Gongdi sa International Criminal Court (ICC). Aminado si Sonny Trillanes, dating senador, na hindi niya alam ang ICC hanggang nakipagtalastasan sa kanya ang isang mambabatas ng European Union Parliamentarian at turuan siya kung ano ang gagawin. Halaw:
As mass violence intensified the ballyhooed war on drugs, a member of the European Union Parliament quietly arrived in Manila in the early morning of one balmy day in September, 2016 to get a complete picture of the war on drugs. Unbeknown to the Duterte government, the European parliamentarian was part of a group of European lawmakers, whom their Parliament assigned to validate reports of mass murder in the Philippines. The European parliamentarian broke protocol to get in touch with the democratic opposition and other stakeholders, including the Legal Left, which was in a moral dilemma on its informal alliance with the Duterte government at that time. The European lawmaker had a one-on-one talk with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who was in the last half of his second six–year term of office. The two lawmakers met in a quiet hotel and had vigorous exchanges of views that centered on reports of human rights violations under the infamous Project Double Barrel. It was not known if the European lawmaker met any other member of the democratic opposition. It could be surmised that the meeting took place because Trillanes was one of the most vocal opposition leaders against the bloody war on drugs during those days.
The dialogue was straightforward, as the two lawmakers sat for at least two hours of intense conversation. At the outset, the European parliamentarian expressed grave concern over the reported mass violence, where thousands of people allegedly involved in drug use and trafficking were murdered with impunity. Trillanes was not surprised with the European lawmaker’s concern. In his seven and a half year of incarceration as one of the leaders of the failed 2004 Oakwood mutiny, Trillanes knew from his extensive readings while in jail that Europe suffered the brunt of the two destructive world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Trillanes knew the emergence of the madman in Adolf Hitler, who almost conquered the whole of Europe. The European parliamentarian had nothing but empathy for the Filipino people, who elected Duterte as president. Trillanes said the summary executions had violated the constitutional precepts on equal protection of the law and presumption of innocence. There was no due process of law, he noted. There was no rule of law, he added.
DECENT PROPOSAL. The European lawmaker was not content to listen to Trillanes’s narrative of the local condition from the lens of the democratic opposition. It could be presumed that he did not travel thousands of miles and spent time, resources, and efforts to listen to the gripes of the democratic opposition. He slowly but surely unveiled his purpose and adroitly navigated the intricate web of diplomatic talks. The parliamentarian, whom Trillanes did not identify because he promised him protection, gave the decent proposal that would lead him to start the immediate filing of crimes against humanity against Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Reconstructing from Trillanes’s memory, their conversation proceeded this way:6
EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENTARIAN: You should not feel helpless with what your president has been doing to your people. I am not bound here by diplomatic niceties, but I propose that you take immediate actions.
ANTONIO F. TRILLANES IV: I understand, Your Honor. But how shall we proceed? May I have the pleasure of hearing any suggestions?
EU PARLIAMENTARIAN: I suggest that you go to the International Criminal Court since the local justice system, as you have said, could not function anymore. Go and file charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte and his people engaged in that war against the Filipino people.
ANTONIO F. TRILLANES IV: I must confess that I am not familiar with the ICC’s operations. But this is a proposal worth exploring, Your Honor.
EU PARLIAMENTARIAN: Study the ICC and its operations. But you have to start immediately because the process takes a long time. The charges against Duterte may or may not prosper, Your Honor. But you have big chances that it would prosper. It is worth trying to stop Duterte from his track.
***
THE INTERNATIONAL OPTION
His fateful meeting with the unidentified European parliamentarian solidified his view that not much could be expected from the domestic criminal justice system and that he had to take the bull by its horns by resorting to the international criminal justice system to settle the raging issue of mass violence in Duterte’s war on drugs. He knew Duterte, although a lawyer, was pursuing an illegal drug war that had no respect for the rule of law and due process. Being a former soldier and not a lawyer, Trillanes confessed his disadvantage because he had to vet the proposal. He asked the Magdalo Party List and his legislative staff to conduct complete staff work and determine the possible filing of charges against Duterte before the ICC. The anti-drug war, the centerpiece program of the Duterte government, had to be stopped on its bloody and deadly track. There was no turning back.
In over a month of complete staff work that sapped the energy of his Magdalo colleagues and legislative staff, the results came out positive and conclusive. It was possible to file crimes against humanity against Duterte and his cohorts before the ICC. There was a basis to make him responsible for those killings. The democratic opposition could bring it before the world body. But when he consulted his colleagues in the Senate on the possibility of joining forces in the first ever complaint against Duterte before the ICC, he was disappointed with their reactions. They were reluctant to join him. They were hesitant to go against the flow, warning they did not want to get involved because Duterte, whom they already thought was a gangster and madman during those days, could and would retaliate. They were fearful of reprisals. Fear was clearly etched in their hearts.
At that time, Leila de Lima was being persecuted. They were afraid to follow de Lima’s fate. When he floated to the mass media the idea of going to the ICC and filing charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte, Trillanes did not get the support of his colleagues. Then Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, a mediocre lawmaker (a poor version of his fearless father lawmaker Aquino Jr.), who is not known for any legislation of substantial consequence, described as “nonsense” the crimes against humanity charges against Duterte and his minions without knowing and understanding the nature of those charges. Some mocked him, believing it would not take off and, ergo, was bound to fail. Sen. Panfilio Lacson said the charges were destined to the “dustbin of history.” The puerile Sen. J. V. Ejercito dramatized the impossibility and uselessness of his planned charges by describing it as “suntok sa buwan” (punch on the moon). Even Ma. Leonora Robredo, Duterte’s vice president and admittedly a leader of the democratic opposition, did not take any effort to support him. In short, nobody wanted to join him. It was a lonely battle because he knew he would be alone to go against Duterte. But he did not lose hope. The next events seemed to conspire to push him to file the crimes against humanity against Duterte and company before the ICC.
On September 15, 2016, or a few days after Trillanes met the European lawmaker, the European Union, through its Parliament, came out with a stinging resolution on its deep concern on the excessively high number of people killed in anti-drug operations. The European Parliament urged the Duterte government “to condemn the actions of vigilante groups and to investigate their responsibility for the killings” and conduct “an immediate, thorough, effective and impartial investigation in order to identify all those responsible, to bring them before a competent and impartial civil tribunal and to apply the penal sanctions provided for by the law.” The European Parliament’s resolution contained important information and inputs that would define the bilateral relations between the region-state and the Philippines, which was then viewed as veering toward a new episode of authoritarianism.
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Source: Police Files Tonite
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