Disbarment complaint vs. Ex-Pres. Duterte filed by families of EJK victims

Families of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and human rights advocates on Friday filed a disbarment complaint against former President Rodrigo Duterte with the Supreme Court (SC).

The advocates carried placards with Duterte’s picture that read: “Mamamatay tao hindi karapat-dapat na abogado (a killer shouldn’t be a lawyer)” and “Bastos hindi karapat-dapat na abogado (a rude person shouldn’t be a lawyer).”

“Witness po tayong lahat dito, witness ang buong mamamayan dito. Nakita natin kung paano nag mura, kung papaano laitin ang mga kababaihan, kung papaano i-shortcut ang proseso, kung papaano ibalewala ang proseso, kung papaano pumatay ng tao ang taong ito,” Atty. Vicente Jaime Topacio, one of the complainants, said in an interview.

(We are all witnesses here, along with the entire community. We have seen how this person has insulted others, how he has belittled women, how he has taken shortcuts in the process, how he has disregarded due process, and how this person has taken lives.)

“Wala po siyang karapatan maging abugado po sa ating bansa,” he added.

(He has no right to be a lawyer in our country.)

Aside from this, Topacio also said Duterte’s remarks before the House Quad Committee (Quad Committee) should be brought before the Supreme Court.

During one of the QuadComm hearings, Duterte claimed that he had "killed" at least six people during his time as mayor of Davao City. Later, Duterte said he also killed a lot of crooked police officials.

Topacio said he is the son of peace consultants Agaton Topacio and Eugenia Magpantay who were slain during the Duterte administration. 

The other complainants are Karapatan Secretary General Tina Palabay, Fr. Manuel Gatchalian, Bayan Secretary General Raymond Palatino, Hustisya Secretary General Ofelia Balleta, Llore Pasco, Rosenda Lemita, Liezel Asuncion, Lean Porquia, Saturnino Ocampo, Norma Dollaga, Orly Marcellana,  Gabriela Dalena, J. Luis Burgos, Bonifacio Ilagan, Sr. Eleanor Llanes, and Tina-Agel Romero.

When sought for comment, former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said no court has convicted Duterte of any crime involving extrajudicial killings.

“So there’s already no basis for that [disbarment],” he said in the Agenda forum. 

‘’Yun naman namang pagmumura niya, it is [just] an expression of outrage,” he added.

The father of 23-year-old Jaybee Castor mourns at the coffin of his son in a funeral home in Caloocan City in 2019. Castor was abducted by unidentified masked men in June, and found dead several days later, with seven sachets of shabu and a placard beside his body accusing him of being a drug addict. Reuters/Eloisa Lopez

Victims

Meanwhile, Pasco said Duterte should not be a lawyer, as lawyers should fight for the rights of Filipinos, especially the poor. Pasco is the mother of Crisanto and Juan Carlos, who were killed during an anti-drug operation in May 2017.

“‘Yan po ang hiling namin na sana po ay dinggin kami ng SC. Bigyan din po ng dignidad ang aming pagkatao na magkaroon po kami ng karapatan at magkaroon po kami ng hustisya. Tamang hustisya po dahil ‘yun naman po talaga ang gusto ng mga pamilya,” she said.

(We hope that the Supreme Court will hear us. We ask for our dignity as individuals to be recognized so that we may have rights and achieve justice. Fair justice, because that is what the families truly desire.)

Pasco said that she and the other families of victims will not tire of fighting.

For her part, Lemita said they are asking the SC for protection. 

Lemita is the mother of Ana Evangelista, who was killed with her husband, Ariel Evangelista, during the so-called Bloody Sunday raids in 2021.

“Sobra na ang mawalan kami ng mga mahal sa buhay dahil sa walang habas na pagpatay na mga mismong bahagi ng estado. Hinihimok namin ang Korte Suprema na patunayang hindi higit sa batas kahit pa ang mga abugado,” she said.

(We have already suffered enough from losing our loved ones due to the indiscriminate killings by the very agents of the state. We urge the Supreme Court to prove that no one is above the law, not even lawyers.)

Meanwhile, according to Palabay, the complainants discussed the filing of the case after Vice President Sara Duterte said the former president will be one of her lawyers in the three impeachment complaints she is facing.

Palabay said the complainants cannot disclose too many details due to the sub judice rule.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte attends a Senate probe on the drug war during his administration, October 28, 2024. Jam Sta. Rosa/ AFP

"Full legal responsibility"

In October, Duterte told a congressional hearing that he will take “full, legal responsibility” for his administration's war on drugs.

“I and I alone take full legal responsibility sa lahat ng nagawa ng mga pulis pursuant to my order. Ako ang managot at ako ang makulong. ‘Wag ang pulis na sumunod sa order ko. Kawawa naman, nagtatrabaho lang,” Duterte said. 

(I and I alone, take full legal responsibility for everything the police had done pursuant to my order. I will be responsible and I should be the one imprisoned. Don't blame the police who just followed my order. They were just doing their jobs.) 

Duterte also said that he carried out the bloody drug war in order to protect Filipinos. According to him, he tried his best to address the country’s problem on illegal drugs “firmly and without compromise.”

“My mandate as President of the Republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people. Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do. Whether you believe it or not, I did for my country,” he said. 

Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups have refuted this and say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings.

—with reports from Llanesca T. Panti/ VAL, GMA Integrated News