Duterte exposed 'nanlaban' narrative as false, says lawyer of ICC complainants

Former President Rodrigo Duterte exposed the "nanlaban" narrative as false when he testified before a Senate inquiry on the war on drugs under his administration, a complainant against Duterte before the International Criminal Court said on Wednesday.

Atty. Neri Colmenares said Duterte implicated himself when he told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that he had instructed policemen to coax drug suspects to fight back—nanlaban in Filipino—so they may be legally killed in the course of police operations.

Colmenares is a counsel of the complainants in the ICC. In 2018, the National Union of People's Lawyers, which he served as chairman, represented activists and families of drug war victims in a complaint against Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity.

“In-expose niya na hindi totoo ‘yung ‘nanlaban’ narrative. ‘Yun ang hindi niya napansing naamin niya unwittingly doon sa Senado. Kaya parang pinagkanulo niya pa ang mga police niya,” Colmenares said. 

(He exposed that the 'nanlaban' narrative is not true. That's what he didn't notice he admitted unwittingly in the Senate. It even seemed like he betrayed his policemen.) 

“‘Yun ‘yung isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit napakalakas ng kaso against President Duterte sa ICC and I wouldn't be surprised if the ICC will terminate its investigation soon and issue the warrant of arrest against President Duterte, at least siguro before the end of this year,” he said. 

(That's one of the reasons why the case against President Duterte is so strong in the ICC and I wouldn't be surprised if the ICC terminated its investigation soon and issued a warrant of arrest against President Duterte, at least maybe before the end of this year.) 

Many drug suspects were killed after they reportedly fought back against arresting officers under the Duterte administration's war on drugs.

GMA News Online has sought comment from the Duterte camp and will publish it as soon as it is available.

First Asian 

Should the warrant by the ICC be issued this year, Colmenares said it will be implemented by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), of which the Philippines is a member. 

“President Duterte will be the first Asian to be tried in the ICC,” he added. 

With the latest congressional hearing in Duterte’s drug war, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel also said the ICC now has more evidence to use in its investigation into the drug war killings. 

“Nauna nang nagsimula ng process ang ICC dahil napakahina ng ating judicial process dito sa bansa kaya dapat hindi na pigilan. All the more na dapat mag-cooperate na ang iba’t ibang mga ahensya sa ICC para once and for all ay mapanagot na ang mga dapat mapanagot,” he said. 

(The ICC earlier started the process as the judicial process in this country is very weak. No one should stop them now. Various agencies should cooperate all the more with the ICC so that we can hold the people responsible for the killings accountable once and for all.) 

Senate President Francis ''Chiz'' Escudero said Tuesday that the chamber has not received any formal communication yet from the ICC as regard to Duterte's recent remarks in the Senate hearing.

Transmitted to ICC

In a tweet on Wednesday, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the transcript of the Senate hearing on Monday have been transmitted to the ICC. 

Meanwhile, transcripts of the QuadComm hearings, he said, were submitted to the ICC “early on and all were duly received.”

“Lahat ng ito ay magagamit sa [all of these will be used in the] trial later on,” Trillanes added. 

The former President, for his part, said he will take “full, legal responsibility” on the war on drugs, despite being firm that he will not apologize for the bloody campaign. 

The ICC is investigating Duterte and other top officials of his administration for crimes against humanity over the alleged systematic drug war deaths in police operations. These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that the deaths were as much as 30,000, including vigilante killings.

Duterte pulled out the Philippines from the Hague-based tribunal's Rome Statute in 2018, with the withdrawal taking effect in 2019, after the ICC began a preliminary probe into the allegations of state-sanctioned killings in his war on drugs.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., on the other hand, has been firm in his stance that he will not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines. The Palace has also maintained that the country will not return to the ICC. 

Confidential funds

In the same press conference, Manuel said that the House QuadComm and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee should also investigate the intelligence and confidential funds of the Office of the President during Duterte’s stint. 

Under the 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the allocation for intelligence and confidential funds for Duterte's office was P2.25 billion each, or P4.5 billion.

 “Para sa mga confidential activities ng pulis, ang pinagmumulan ng pondo niyan ay ‘yung kanilang intelligence funds. Kaya dapat lamang na imbestigahan din hindi lang ng Senado, pero maging ng QuadComm sa Kamara, kung paano ginamit ni Rodrigo Duterte ang confidential and intelligence funds ng Office of the President,” Manuel said. 

(The funding of the confidential activities of the police comes from intelligence funds. Therefore the Senate and the QuadComm in the House should also investigate how Rodrigo Duterte used the confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the President.)  —NB, GMA Integrated News