Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stated on Wednesday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be allowed to enter the Philippines to investigate allegations of human rights violations in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

This occurred after the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor in The Hague requested entry into the country to investigate extrajudicial killings resulting from the former President’s measures to eradicate the use of illegal drugs in the country.

“Allowing the investigators and factfinders in can and should be an act of sovereignty–a choice we, as a people, freely make for the sake of truth and to vindicate those who may have lost their lives, denied by processes of law that every democracy guarantees both to citizen and foreigner alike,” Villegas said in a statement.

“Insofar as this process seeks to ferret out the truth and, possibly, to hold accountable those who, in an arrogant abuse of power, may have caused others, even possibly innocent people, loss of life in violation of guarantees enshrined in the Philippine Constitution as well as in human rights treaties to which the Philippines is a party, a thorough inquiry by persons without vested interests or prior alliances should be welcome,” Villegas added.

“Truth has never destroyed a nation. It is falsehood that has been the undoing of many peoples,” Villegas stressed.

The Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop asserted that the court also upholds the concept of complementarity and that his support for the ICC investigation is “in no way a vote of no confidence” in the nation’s legal system. He added that Filipino nationhood shouldn’t be “so fragile” that it prevents international authorities from determining whether Philippine prosecutors are willing to hold those responsible for “heinous crimes” accountable.

Other than Archbishop Villegas, the Magdalo group led by former Senator Antonio Trillanes also urged President Bongbong Marcos to allow ICC investigators to hold former President Rodrigo Duterte accountable for alleged “crimes against humanity.”

DOJ to probe House Resolution calling for ICC investigation

Before the Archbishop’s statement, the Department of Justice will probe a House resolution calling on the Marcos administration to participate in the ICC investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

“Kinakailangan humingi kami ng transmittal sa Kongreso, tungkol sa mga usapin dito, sa mga detalyeng nangyayari, at sa kung anong nangyari sa komite bago ito lumabas,” Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said.

The Justice secretary referred to House Resolution 1393, which the Makabayan bloc filed last week, and urged the Marcos administration to support the ICC.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of the ACT Teachers party list, House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela party list, and Kabataan party list Representative Raoul Manuel made the call under House Resolution 1393 in light of Duterte’s recent SMNI interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on his use of intelligence funds in the war on drugs.

The bloc emphasized the importance of the government allowing the ICC, especially after former President Rodrigo Duterte admitted using intelligence funds to fund extrajudicial killings in Davao City while he was mayor.

The government is adamant that since the Philippines withdrew from the ICC’s Rome Statute in 2019, the court has no jurisdiction over the country, even for crimes allegedly committed while the country was still a state party to the treaty.

Justice Secretary Remulla stressed that the government’s stance still stands.

“Wala namang pagbabago sapagkat kailangan lang pag-aralan talaga ang bagay na ito sapagkat international law ang pumapasok dito,” he said. “Kailangan maingat tayo. Kung may sistema ng hustisya na umaandar, bakit ipapaabuya pa natin sa iba?” Remulla said.

Photo: Bishop Socrates Villegas FB