NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 20 February) — It would not be a riot of merry-making but a sad reunion when the gang of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte joins him at The Hague.
The International Criminal Court has recently named the alleged co-perpetrators of FPRRD in committing crimes against humanity, arising from his bloody war on drugs that snuffed 6,000 lives by official records. Crime Watch estimated the victims at 30,000. Regardless, both figures are staggering, which demands accountability. As our justice system has done nothing about it for one reason or another, the families of the victims and the nation at large are pleased that the ICC took over and will haul the culprits to trial. It is just a matter of time before justice is served.
Named by the ICC as the primary co-perpetrator of Duterte is Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, his PNP Chief, the architect of Tokhang and Oplan Double barrel – the state-sponsored extra-judicial (EJK) killing of suspected drug personalities, but mostly of drug users and drug pushers. The drug lords remained scot-free. One even became Duterte’s economic adviser.
Other co-perpetrators include:
Former police chief Vicente Danao, the late former police chief Camilo Cascolan, former police chief Oscar Albayalde, former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Dante Gierran, former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña, former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, and Senator Bong Go, a former long-time aide of FPRRD since their Davao days.
Go stood firm behind his patron and approved of his drug war but distances himself now from it, claiming he had no role or participation in its execution. His being tagged by the ICC is, accordingly, grossly unfair. He is unfazed by the ICC, will face trial when summoned, and would never go into hiding like his colleague Senator Bato dela Rosa.
Bato, who in March declared that he is willing to join Duterte at The Hague to take care of the old man, suddenly became invisible. He left his job in the Senate and went into hiding since November 11, shortly after reports from Ombudsman Boying Remulla surfaced of an alleged arrest warrant from the ICC. His disappearing act is a betrayal of his patron Digong, and that of the country for abandoning his sworn duties and responsibilities as an elected official of the land.
It’s a little wonder why Sara Duterte, who has been linked to the fearsome Davao Death Squad, is not named as a co-perpetrator of the crimes against humanity. Is there an occasion especially reserved for her?
To save their skin, it is not remote that some of the co-perpetrators may turn into witnesses against Digong Duterte at the trial in The Hague. Sad, but loyalty often ends when one’s own life is at risk.
Loyalty is fickle and fleeting.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)
