THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Sa huling araw ng confirmation of charges sa International Criminal Court noong Biyernes, Pebrero 27, iginiit ni ICC Prosecutor Julian Nicholls na si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang pinaka-responsable sa pagpatay sa libu-libong biktima ng war on drugs.
“We’re here in this court to prosecute the most responsible, and the most responsible is his client, former president Duterte. Not the people on the ground who committed the killings, they are responsible, but they are not the most responsible, and unlike his client, the ones who have come forward have shown remorse for what they have done,” sabi ni Nicholls.
Binanggit niya na ipinagmamalaki ni Duterte ang kanyang mga pagpatay at sinasabi na ito ay “para sa greater good” ng bansa.
“He’s proud of his killings. He wants to be remembered for decades of murdering his own people, murdering the children of the Philippines. And he claims that he did it all for his own country. He doesn’t deny it. He says it’s a necessary evil, it’s for the greater good. It doesn’t matter how many kids I have to kill. I’ll clean up the Philippines,” dagdag pa niya.
Ani Nicholls, hindi nakakagulat na nangyari ang ilang pagpatay, kabilang ang mga kaso nina Kerwin Espinosa at Raul Yap, dahil inilipat at inappoint ni Duterte sa mataas na posisyon ang mga opisyal na sangkot sa operasyon.
“Mr. Duterte moved co-perpetrators from Davao to Manila and appointed them to high positions. So, when he appointed the chief of police, and part of the chief of police’s job is to kill thousands of people. It’s not a surprise that the police reports don’t reflect that,” paliwanag niya.
Pinunto rin ni Gilbert Andres, kinatawan ng mga biktima, na ang mga pahayag ni Duterte bilang Presidente ay itinuturing na polisiya at dapat sundin.
“Under the Philippine Constitution, the Executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines. Whatever the President publicly states is policy… Mr. Duterte was and is indeed a unique phenomenon in the public and vulgar way in which he used his words to dehumanize the victims of his anti-drugs campaign… And the record shows that everything Mr. Duterte exhorts, the killing, the murders of alleged drug users, people are murdered all over the Philippines,” ani Andres.
Ani Andres, sapat ang ebidensya ng prosecution para patunayan ang pananagutan ni Duterte at hinihiling ng mga biktima na makumpirma ang lahat ng kaso laban sa kanya upang makamit ang hustisya at mailabas sila mula sa anino ng takot at pekeng balita. RNT/MND
