Barbers: Duterte to be given courtesy if he won't attend drug war probe

Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Ace Barbers, the overall chairman of the House of Representatives quad committee, said on Saturday they would respect former President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision should he refuse to attend the probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings in his administration’s war on drugs. 

Last month, the House quad com approved a motion to invite Duterte amid allegations implicating the former chief executive in the murder of three convicted Chinese drug lords in 2016.

Asked what would be the quad com’s reaction should Duterte skip the probe, Barbers said, “We will extend the courtesy due to the former president.”

The lawmaker clarified that the courtesy to be extended to Duterte is not a form of “special treatment,” after some resource persons were cited in contempt when they refused to show up or gave evasive answers.

“Wala pong special treatment. Ito po ay in deference to him being the former president (There is no special treatment. This is in deference to him being the former president),” Barbers said.

“Sa aming palagay karapatan po niya ‘yan at inirerespeto namin (We believe it is within his right and we respect it),” he added.

Duterte and other top officials of his administration are already being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the alleged crimes against humanity in relation to the drug war deaths in police operations during his tenure.

These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that the deaths reached as many as 30,000, including vigilante killings, due to Duterte's policy.

Duterte, however, has insisted that the Philippines is not under ICC jurisdiction due to Manila's withdrawal from the Rome Statute in March 2019. — VBL, GMA Integrated News