MANILA, Philippines — The documentary film on the illegal drug campaign being carried out in Caloocan City will be used as evidence before the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing a crimes against humanity complaint against President Duterte.
James Jones, the director of the first full-length drug war documentary “On the President’s Orders,” confirmed to The STAR that the film will be used as evidence against the President.
“Yes, we were asked by the ICC to submit the film as evidence,” Jones said.
“As you know it’s still a preliminary examination, not yet a full investigation,” he added.
The film has since premiered before the Commission on Human Rights and the University of the Philippines Film Institute.
Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno had said the film may be entered as evidence because the admissions of abuse in operations came from the cops themselves.
He said the film documented “40 to 50” violations in police operations mostly affecting slum dwellers in Caloocan.
The filmmakers Jones and Olivier Sarbil immersed themselves in operations led by then SWAT leader Capt. Rengie Deimos, who confronted urban poor members as young as 13 years old and suspected them of being troublemakers in the area.
Then jail warden Sergeant Adolfo Agustin was also interviewed justifying the brute manner of hitting detainees’ hands while in custody.
Deimos was also recorded in an off-camera interview what he knew about some police officers’ involvement in drive-by shooting against drug pushers and users.
“Before the ICC, (the film) has a bearing… I understand in any ICC cases, they have accepted press reports. (As for this film), the statements really came directly from the officials’ mouths,” Diokno said.
The film documented the spike of shooting incidents of mostly drug suspects during the time of then police colonel Jemar Modequillo, described by the filmmakers as “charismatic… who loved the attention.”
The film was also shown before the United Nations Human Rights Council before it voted last July to adopt a resolution calling on UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to prepare a comprehensive report on the human rights situation in the Philippines.
The Philippine government had retaliated by shunning all loans and grants from the 14 countries that voted for the UN resolution.
Despite the deaths, the drug war remains mostly popular among Filipinos, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey that showed 82 percent of 1,200 Filipinos saying they are satisfied with the campaign.