QuadComm will not submit progress report to ICC -Barbers

The House Quad Committee will not submit its findings on drug war-related deaths during the Duterte administration to the International Criminal  Court (ICC), according to panel Chairperson Robert Ace Barbers.

Speaking on Sunday, Barbers clarified that since the Philippines was no longer a member of the ICC, the results of the QuadComm's investigation would be used solely for domestic purposes.

Barbers said during an interview on Super  Radyo dzBB that the progress report and other pertinent panel documents would only be lodged with the  Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Hindi kami magbibigay diyan sa kanila.  Kahit sila ay humingi ay hindi naman kami magbibigay sa kanila because  tayo’y hindi miyembro ng ICC,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(We will not submit the progress report to them. Even if they ask, we will not give it to them because we are no longer members of the ICC.)

Barbers reiterated the administration's stance, saying, “Kami ay naninindigan sa pronouncement ng ating Pangulo na kung gusto nilang  mag-imbestiga, they can do it on their own. Hindi naman sila pipigilan,  but they have to source their witnesses and kumuha sila ng kanilang mga  documentary evidence kung saan nila kukunin.”

(We stand by the  President's pronouncement that if the ICC wants to investigate, they can do it on their own. We will not stop them, but they need to source  their own witnesses and gather their documentary evidence  independently.)

The Philippines formally withdrew from the  Rome Statute, which established the ICC, in March 2018 under the administration of then-President Rodrigo Duterte. The withdrawal became effective a year later.

Duterte cited what he described were "baseless, unprecedented, and outrageous attacks" against him and his administration as reasons for the withdrawal.

He also accused the ICC  prosecutor of attempting to assert jurisdiction over him amidst allegations of state-sanctioned killings tied to his controversial war on drugs.

According to Barbers, the QuadComm’s recommendations in its progress report have been forwarded to concerned agencies like the DOJ, Office of the Ombudsman, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Philippine National Police.

“'Yung mga nakalap naming mga testimonial evidence at mga documentary evidence, ay sa aming  paniwala, lalo na 'yung mga binitawang salita under oath, para sa amin  sa mayorya na miyembro ng QuadComm, ito ay merong bigat,” he said.

(We believe in that the testimonial and documentary evidence we have gathered are compelling.)

“But as far as how the courts will appreciate it, ay hindi na po namin sakop at hindi namin pwedeng pangunahan sila,” he continued.

(But we don’t want to preempt how the courts will appreciate this evidence.) — DVM, GMA Integrated News