Quad comm: No submission of findings to ICC despite looming ‘arrest warrant’ for Digong

The House Quad Committee has remained steadfast that no submission of findings into former president Rodrigo Duterte's notorious bloody anti-drug campaign will be made to the International Criminal Court (ICC), despite speculations of a looming arrest against the erstwhile chief executive.

The mega panel's chairperson, Ace Barbers, affirmed in an interview on Sunday that their position remains unchanged and still in line with the government, stating that the ICC has no business meddling with the country since it departed from the Rome Statute in 2019 pursuant to Duterte's marching orders.

The lawmaker, however, clarified that the international tribunal can access the relevant records of the panel for themselves since the investigations were publicly available and uploaded on the official Facebook and YouTube pages of the House of Representatives.

“In the second Quad Comm hearing, we made it clear that we have no participation in the ICC and we will not cooperate with the ICC," he said.

Barbers continued, "They should not expect [that we will] turn over any transcripts from our hearings. If they want to use them, that is up to them because the records of those hearings are on social media platforms."

Barbers made the statement on the heels of reports that the ICC had already issued an arrest warrant against Duterte for allegedly committing crimes against humanity at the height of his bloody drug war.

The warrant was allegedly issued on the morning of 8 March, just a day after the former president flew to Hong Kong via Cathay Pacific flight CX912, reportedly to attend a thanksgiving event for overseas Filipino workers on Sunday.

His daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, was present at the event.

Reports of the ICC's arrest warrant against the senior Duterte grabbed headlines as early as last year — at the height of the Quad Comm's rigorous probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings tied to his anti-narcotics campaign.

Prior to his testimony at the Quad Comm's investigation on 13 November, the former president — renowned for being tough-talking and for his aggressive rhetoric — told a Senate hearing last year that he takes "full, legal responsibility” for the summary killings committed by the police during his brutal drug war.

He also admitted under oath that he encouraged police to provoke drug suspects to fight back as a pretext to kill them.

In December, the Quad Comm finally recommended the filing of criminal charges against former President Duterte, along with his close allies, Senators Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, who were both highly implicated in the drug war.

The ICC temporarily halted its investigation into Duterte's drug war until the country launched a parallel investigation through the Quad Comm.

To recall, the Philippines officially cut ties in March 2019 with the Rome Statute — the treaty that established the ICC — after the tribunal opened a preliminary investigation into Duterte's bloody drug war, accusing him of human rights abuses and violations.

However, the ICC asserted that it still retains jurisdiction over any potential crimes against humanity that occurred prior to the country’s withdrawal.

Although the Quad Comm is comprised of Duterte's critics, Barbers assured that they will abide by the longstanding position of the Marcos administration unless the ICC itself successfully hurdles the challenges posed by the Philippines and prosecutes Duterte.

The Hague-based court reportedly proceeded with its probe with stronger evidence after the families of the drug war victims and its perpetrators began to come forward before the Quad Comm.

"As the President said, we will not cooperate; we will not submit to the ICC's request because we are not a member... If they have any ways to do it, we do not know yet their legal strategy to implement such an arrest warrant," he stated.

More than 7,000 individuals were reportedly killed under Duterte's war on drugs, based on the government’s data.

However, local and international human rights organizations estimated that the figures were a far cry from the actual death toll, probably exceeding 30,000, affecting predominantly low-income families and communities.

Earlier, Duterte challenged the ICC to come to the Philippines as soon as possible, saying he may just die before it starts investigating his drug war.

“They can come here anytime. You know, we're not hiding…If I am found guilty, I will go to prison and rot there for all time,” Duterte bluntly remarked.

If he had the means, Duterte, a lawyer, said he would personally go to the ICC and investigate himself.