MANILA – Former President Rodrigo Duterte will not be cited for contempt if he decides to skip the House of Representatives’ quad committee’s inquiry on the alleged extrajudicial killings in his administration’s war on drugs.
According to Surigao del Norte 2nd District’s Cong. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chairman of the quad committee, they will respect if the former Chief Executive will not attend the probe.
Last month, the House quad com approved a motion to invite Duterte amid allegations implicating the former chief executive in the murder of three convicted Chinese drug lords in 2016.
“We will extend the courtesy due to the former president,” Barbers said in a forum over the weekend. “Sa aming palagay karapatan po niya ‘yan at inirerespeto namin. Ito po ay in deference to him being the former president.”
Barbers explained that the courtesy to be extended to Duterte is not a form of “special treatment,” after some resource persons were cited in contempt when they refused to show up or gave evasive answers.
Duterte and other top officials of his administration are being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in relation to the alleged crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs.
These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups stated that the deaths reached as many as 30,000, including vigilante killings, due to Duterte’s policy.
The former President, however, has insisted that the Philippines is not under ICC jurisdiction due to Manila’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in March 2019./PN
