EDITORIAL - Calls for justice

Whether or not it’s part of the ongoing political warfare, the re-emergence of former Davao City policeman Arturo Lascañas revives the issue of the state’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs, with justice still elusive for victims of extrajudicial killings.

Lascañas, who initially denied being an executioner of hundreds of people in Davao when Rodrigo Duterte served as city mayor or vice mayor, later changed his story. In exchange for immunity from prosecution, he submitted a 186-page affidavit to the International Criminal Court in 2021, with a detailed description of EJKs he claimed he carried out as a member of the so-called Davao Death Squad. He estimates that about 10,000 people were executed by the DDS before Duterte became president.

Duterte has always denied the existence of the DDS. But during his six years as president, the Philippine National Police counted over 6,000 people killed in what the PNP described as legitimate law enforcement operations, with most of those slain shot dead supposedly for fighting back or resisting arrest.

This week Lascañas added a fresh detail to his story. In a Zoom interview from an undisclosed place abroad with Philippine journalists, he accused Vice President Sara Duterte of being the one who cooked up the violent anti-crime crackdown code-named “Tokhang” when she was mayor of Davao City and her father was vice mayor in 2012. Yesterday, the Vice President denied the story and dared her accusers to file charges against her in the Philippines.

The Vice President and her father are among several public personalities under investigation by the ICC for possible crimes against humanity committed in the bloody campaign against illegal drugs. President Marcos has said his government does not intend to cooperate with the ICC in its probe. But his officials have said Filipinos cannot be stopped from giving evidence or testimony to the court under an informal setting. The President also said proposals for the Philippines to return to ICC membership are “under study.”

Regardless of where the ICC probe is headed, Philippine authorities should also proceed in earnest with their avowed efforts to uncover the truth in the drug killings. The idea that the country has a fully functioning criminal justice system is a key argument in the government’s refusal to cooperate with the ICC. The surfacing of Lascañas – whether or not he is telling the truth – revives calls for justice for those killed in the war on drugs.