Political noise? | Philstar.com

October 18, 2024 | 12:00 p.m

In recent weeks, the House Quad Communications hearings have taken on the character of a Netflix miniseries. The revelations were not shocking in the sense that they did not surprise us. We’ve suspected this all along, but now we’re getting confirmation from some of the key people involved. It’s a good thing that the UniTeam has disbanded, otherwise it would all have remained a secret.

A police officer who was said to be quite close to Duterte sang like a canary during the hearings. Through tears, she revealed how Duterte had asked her to hire an INC-affiliated PNP officer to set up a system that emulated Davao’s anti-drug war.

This included, she claimed, a reward system for every murder committed by a police officer.

She has benefited greatly from her close relationship with Duterte, which includes being appointed general manager of the sweepstakes office.

One wonders what motivated them to turn around and confirm our worst suspicions about the past administration’s extrajudicial killings. Her affidavit condemns her as much as Duterte.

Since she was an active participant, no one can simply dismiss her sworn testimony. She had an insider’s perspective. She most likely has more to share to help us put the pieces together and come to a result that would satisfy us as much as a well-written Netflix series. But for now it is still what we would call “Bitin”.

The senators involved in the hearings, who are running for re-election, have tried to minimize the damage from the revelations. They want us to believe that this is all political noise. Senator Go even accused the congressmen who chaired the hearing of being ungrateful towards Duterte after he received so many political benefits in the past. Senator Bato, who was suspected by another witness, made the policewoman run away in tears. Our political scene consists mainly of theater. That’s probably why so many down and out of work showbiz types are running for senator.

Who can cry best to convince us that they are telling the truth? What is the bottom line after congressional hearings conclude? Is this all a prelude to the Marcos administration asking the ICC to step in and help us clean up our mess? The Executive Secretary just said that the position against cooperation with the ICC remains. For how long?

This battle between the two political dynasties is unlikely to end with a whimper given all that has been said so far. There is no going back. It is possible that the shadow of an ICC case will hang around as long as it is politically useful for the government.

The logical conclusion should involve the ICC so that people get the satisfaction of a good Netflix ending. Since the ICC has difficulty arresting accused figures, no one will travel to The Hague unless BBM feels they have no other choice.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague is a permanent global court with the power to prosecute individuals and leaders for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It should be the global community’s means of bringing to justice those accused of crimes against humanity. It is a court of last resort that only intervenes if the national authorities cannot or do not want to prosecute.

Those who joined the treaty that created it, including the Philippines, did so on the assumption that they could themselves prosecute any crimes contained therein—otherwise the court could intervene. Most of the cases currently being handled by the ICC involve genocide committed by a number of African rulers/dictators.

Recently, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his representative for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. They were accused of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children to Russia during Mr Putin’s invasion of the country.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor also recently sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.

If ever, Duterte will be the first case of extrajudicial killings in an anti-drug war. This seems highly unlikely as it will cause significant political unrest which we do not need. There will be even more political noise in the coming weeks and months. Depending on the election results, the ICC option could finally be put on hold.

If you think about it, letting the ICC resolve the Duterte-EJK cases isn’t a bad idea. It is almost impossible for our justice system to handle a case like this with a result that we can all believe in. Our political and legal systems are so intertwined that outcomes can easily be influenced. Only an independent body in distant Europe can bring justice to the victims’ families. The nation’s ability to move on after the truth has been established and justice has been delivered is also an important benefit of the ICC’s involvement. But this is not how our political dramas end.

The political noise is getting louder because most of our people don’t really care one way or another. We just want to be fascinated by the stories unfolding at the Quad Comm and feel bad for a moment when we learn how our tax dollars were used to fund an outrageous criminal operation.

In the end, the PNP must conduct a thorough public housecleaning. The policewoman’s revelations confirmed our worst suspicions that the PNP has a parallel criminal organization.

The PNP Academy must better train future police officers in moral values. PNP officials must be able to distinguish right from wrong and make the right decisions. The key officials mentioned in the revelations are PNPA alumni turned murderers. It will take time and great effort to regain the public’s trust.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.