Septuagenarian Notes: THE PREPOSTEROUS CLAIM OF MENARDO GUEVARRA

 ANOTHER issue that causes sublime annoyance is Menardo Guevarra’s claim that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. This is false. Menardo Guevarra, a mediocre lawyer, has not read the provisions of the Rome Statute, the treaty that has created the ICC. Neither did he read the 2021 decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of legitimacy of Rodrigo Duterte’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the ICC in 2019.

In my second book, “BUMPS Fifty Year of Democracy and Dictatorship in Philippines (1972-2022), I discuss in Chapter 10 the falsity of this issue. Excerpts:

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, in the landmark 2021 decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and unanimously concurred by all magistrates, has decided that Duterte did not violate the 1987 Constitution when the latter made the unilateral decision for the Philippines to withdraw its membership in the Rome Statute, the multilateral treaty that has created the International Criminal Court (ICC). Duterte did not consult with leaders of Congress in his unilateral decision.

But the withdrawal decision does not mean that Duterte and his ilk are no longer responsible for the spate of EJKs that took place when the Philippines was a member of the Rome Statute. It does not exculpate them of any responsibility as set forth in the Rome Statute. On the contrary, they have remained responsible for the numerous violations they committed when the Philippines was a member-state of the Rome Statute.

On the contrary, the High Court’s decision binds the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to enforce the Rome Statue when the Philippines was still a member. It has dropped words that the government has no choice but to turn over Duterte and his co-accused to the ICC, if ever it asks for Duterte and ilk to face prosecution and trial.

The country is no longer an ICC member on March 17, 2019, but it ruled the ICC can investigate the EJKs because they occurred when the country was still a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC probe covers the EJKs committed from Nov. 2011 to March 2019, including the EJKs in Davao City, while Duterte was its mayor and thousands of EJKs that occurred nationwide in his war on drugs.

The Supreme Court decision stressed judicial restraint in the treatment of the unilateral withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute. But it ensured that the government would have to adhere to the provisions of the Rome Statute, when it was still a member-state. In brief, the withdrawal initiated solely by Duterte in what appeared to be an unpredictable fit of frenzy does not mean outright loss of obligations to the ICC. In what could be considered an iron-clad, black and white part of the Supreme Court decision, the following has to be cited from the SC decision:

“Withdrawing from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member. Article 127(2) provides: ‘A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Statute while it was as a Party to the Statute, including any financial obligations which may have accrued. Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.’

“A state party withdrawing from the Rome Statute must still comply with this provision. Even if it has deposited the instrument of withdrawal, it shall not be discharged from any criminal proceedings. Whatever process was already initiated before the International Criminal Court obliges the state party to cooperate.

“Until the withdrawal took effect on March 17, 2019, the Philippines was committed to meet its obligations under the Rome Statute. Any and all governmental acts up to March 17, 2019 may be taken cognizance of by the International Criminal Court.

“Further, as petitioners in G.R. No. 239483 underscored: [U]nder this reverse complementarity provision in [Republic Act No. 9851, the Preliminary Examination opened by the [International Criminal Court] on the President's drug war is not exactly haram (to borrow a word used in Islam to mean any act forbidden by the Divine). Assuming such a [Preliminary Examination] proceeds . . . when Art. 18 (3) of the Rome Statute comes into play, [Republic Ad No. 9851 may be invoked as basis by Philippine authorities to defer instead to the [International Criminal Court] in respect of any investigation on the same situation.

“Consequently, liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs is not nullified or negated here. The Philippines remained covered and bound by the Rome Statute until March 17, 2019.”

Hence, the Supreme Court dismissed the  claim that the unilateral withdrawal of Philippine membership from the Rome Statute “violated their right to be provided with ample remedies for the protection of their right to life and security.” This is baseless, according to the High Court. “This fear of imagined diminution of legal remedies must be assuaged. The Constitution, which embodies our fundamental rights, was in no way abrogated by the withdrawal. A litany of statutes that protect our rights remain in place and enforceable,” it said.

This is a matter that Duterte and cohorts have had a hard time to understand. Even their purported lawyers do not understand this issue either. They have kept on insisting that the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute has extinguished outright their liability or responsibility from the Rome Statute. Hence, they have insisted the ICC has no power to run after them. This oversimplistic view and interpretation is false, by all means.

The Supreme Court has laid down the consequences if ever a state like the Philippines refuses to cooperate with the ICC in its probes.The operative phrase is “full cooperation.” The ICC has the power to employ ways to ensure the personal safety of victims. This is a matter that Duterte, cohorts and lawyers have not seen or understood.

Septugenarian Notes: MENARDO GUEVARRA CLAIMS ARE UNTRUE

 It irritates me no end whenever Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra claims that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no more jurisdiction on the Philippines since it has withdrawn in 2019 its membership in the Rome Statute, the treaty that has created the ICC. My ever suspicious mind could not help but think that Guevarra wants to exculpate himself of any responsibility in the bloody but ill-fated war on drugs of Rodrigo Duterte. Prior to his appointment at the OSG, Guevarra was the justice secretary. That was during the incumbency of Duterte. While at the DoJ, Guevarra never took initiatives to pursue honest to goodness investigations of the war on drugs. The ICC acknowledged the failure of the Duterte government to run after those behind the spate of EJKs in the country. On the contrary, Guevarra was part of the massive coverup to hide the truth from the Filipino people. Guevarra should be indicted too at the ICC.

Guevarra's role in the war of drugs has not be fully studied and documented. This is something that should be looked into. I am now completing my second book "BUMPS Fifty Years of Democracy and Dictatorship in the Philippines (1972-2022)." Chapter of this book is an update of the war on drugs. This year, I finished my first book "KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et Al." The following are excerpts of Chapter 10 of my second book. It explains why the Philippines is still responsible for those EJKs although it is no longer a member of the Rome Statute. This belies Guevarra's claims, which are not based on the Supreme Court decision in 2021. It appears Guevarra does not know the provisions of the Rome Statute and the Supreme Court decision. He is grossly ignorant of the law.

UNANIMOUS CONCURRENCE. The Supreme Court, in the landmark 2021 decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and unanimously concurred by all magistrates, has decided that Duterte did not violate the 1987 Constitution when the latter made the unilateral decision for the Philippines to withdraw its membership in the Rome Statute, the multilateral treaty that has created the International Criminal Court (ICC). Duterte did not consult with leaders of Congress in his unilateral decision. Neither did he consult with other leaders in the Exeuctive Branch. It was his unilateral decision.

 

But the withdrawal decision does not mean that Duterte and his ilk are no longer responsible for the spate of EJKs that took place when the Philippines was a member of the Rome Statute. It does not exculpate them of any responsibility set forth in the Rome Statute. On the contrary, they have remained responsible for the numerous violations they committed when the Philippines was a member-state of the Rome Statute.

 

On the contrary, the High Court’s decision binds the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to enforce the Rome Statue when the Philippines was still a member. It has dropped words that the Marcos government has no choice but to turn over Duterte and his co-accused to the ICC, if ever it asks for Duterte and ilk to face prosecution and trial. The provisions of the Romes Satute is clear on this aspect. Framers of the Rome Statute have anticipated the withdrawal of member-states, when its leaders stand accused of violations of its citizens. Its framers foresaw this eventuality and that they have placed an iron-clad provision to initiate proceedings against these violators even when the withdrawal is to happen.

 

The country is no not an ICC member on March 17, 2019, but the ICC has ruled that it could investigate the EJKs because they occurred when the country was still a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC probe covers the EJKs committed from Nov. 2011 to March 2019, including the EJKs in Davao City, while Duterte was its mayor and thousands of EJKs that occurred nationwide in his war on drugs. This is something that Duterte, a lawyer, did not know and, until now, refuses to understand.

 

JUDICIAL RESTRAINT. The Supreme Court decision gave a judicial restraint treatment of the unilateral withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute. But it has ensured that the government would have to adhere to the provisions of the Rome Statute, when it was still a member-state. In brief, the withdrawal initiated solely by Duterte in what appeared to be an unpredictable fit of frenzy does not mean outright loss of the country’s obligations to the ICC. In what could be considered an iron-clad, black and white part of the Supreme Court decision, the following has to be cited from the SC decision:

 

“Withdrawing from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member. Article 127(2) provides: ‘A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Statute while it was as a Party to the Statute, including any financial obligations which may have accrued. Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.’

 

“A state party withdrawing from the Rome Statute must still comply with this provision. Even if it has deposited the instrument of withdrawal, it shall not be discharged from any criminal proceedings. Whatever process was already initiated before the International Criminal Court obliges the state party to cooperate.

 

“Until the withdrawal took effect on March 17, 2019, the Philippines was committed to meet its obligations under the Rome Statute. Any and all governmental acts up to March 17, 2019 may be taken cognizance of by the International Criminal Court.

 

“Further, as petitioners in G.R. No. 239483 underscored: [U]nder this reverse complementarity provision in [Republic Act No. 9851, the Preliminary Examination opened by the [International Criminal Court] on the President's drug war is not exactly haram (to borrow a word used in Islam to mean any act forbidden by the Divine). Assuming such a [Preliminary Examination] proceeds . . . when Art. 18 (3) of the Rome Statute comes into play, [Republic Ad No. 9851 may be invoked as basis by Philippine authorities to defer instead to the [International Criminal Court] in respect of any investigation on the same situation.

 

“Consequently, liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs is not nullified or negated here. The Philippines remained covered and bound by the Rome Statute until March 17, 2019.”

 

Hence, the Supreme Court dismissed the  claim that the unilateral withdrawal of Philippine membership from the Rome Statute “violated their right to be provided with ample remedies for the protection of their right to life and security.” This is baseless, according to the High Court. “This fear of imagined diminution of legal remedies must be assuaged. The Constitution, which embodies our fundamental rights, was in no way abrogated by the withdrawal. A litany of statutes that protect our rights remain in place and enforceable,” it said.

 

In the first book, this author concludes this is a matter that Duterte and cohorts have had a hard time to understand. Even their purported lawyers do not understand this issue either. They have kept on insisting that the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute has extinguished outright their liability or responsibility from the Rome Statute. Hence, they have insisted the ICC has no power to run after them. This oversimplistic view and interpretation is false and unimplementable, by all means.

 

The Supreme Court has laid down the consequences if ever a state like the Philippines refuses to cooperate with the ICC in its probes.The operative phrase is “full cooperation.” The ICC has the power to employ ways to ensure the personal safety of victims. This is a matter that Duterte, cohorts and lawyers have not seen or understood.

 

     

  

SEPTUAGENARIAN NOTES: REWARD SYSTEM EXISTS IN DUTERTE'S WAR ON DRUGS

BACKGROUND: ACTUALLY, it was not Col. Royina Garma, who revealed for the first time the reward system in the bloody but ill-fated war on drugs of Duterte. SPO4 Arturo Lascanas did it first. Lascanas revealed that reward system in his 188-page supplemental affidavit he issued in 2020. Garma merely corroborated what Lascanas revealed in 2020. Lascanas stands to be the ICC's "star witness" against Gongdi and his ilk in the crimes against humanity charges filed before the ICC.

In my first book, 'KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et Al," I discussed what Lascanas claimed the reward system in Duterte's war on drugs. I mentioned this issue on Chapter 7 of the book and the chapter is titled "Hitman's Confessions." The hitman is Lascanas, the Duterte Death Squad (DDS) insider who turned against Duterte. Excerpts:

WHO IS ARTURO LASCANAS?

 

In his expanded affidavit, Lascanas introduced himself as “a retired police officer who was a member of the Philippine National Police from April 16, 1982 to December 16, 2016,” or a total of 38 years. He claimed to have been assigned to the Davao City Mayor’s Unit occupied by then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who sported nicknames and call signs. “I was one of the original members of the Davao Death Squad that was founded by then Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 1988,” he said.

 

Lascanas named the “original” DDS members: Police Chief Inspector (Major) Ernesto Macasaet; Senior Police Officer 4 Desiderio “Dick” Cloribel; Senior Police Officer4 Fulgencio Pavo; Senior Police Officer4 Bienvenido Laud; Senior Police Officer3 Jeremias Baguhin; Senior Police Officer2 Teodoro Paguidopon; Police Officer3 Arturo Bariquit Lascanas; and. Police Officer1 Jun Naresma.  They were all regular members of the Davao City Police Office assigned to Duterte’s office called “Mayor’s Unit,” which was later called “Anti-Crime Task Force,” Lascanas said.

 

Lascanas narrated: “At the early stages of the ‘Duterte Death Squad,’ during the first term of Mayor RRD, we, the regular members of the Anti-Crime Task Force Office or Mayor’s Unit-Davao City Police Office – Philippine National Police, were handpicked by Mayor RRD and Major Ernesto Macasaet, as members of a ‘Death Squad.’ We were the hitmen of the newly-founded ‘Duterte Death Squad,’ later known as the Davao Death Squad or DDS. We were not required to wear our police uniforms.

 

He said: “At first, during the time of the Ant-Crime Taskforce, Mayor RRD personally gave us P10,000 cash money as our reward, which was later increased to P15,000, then to P20,000 for every person killed by our group. These rewards were, later on, coursed through Major Macasaet and Sonny Buenaventura. Although, sometimes, Mayor Duterte would still give us personally the reward.”

 

According to Lascanas, Duterte gave them “reward money from P100,000 to P300,000 cash money as the minimum, up to P500,000 and to millions of pesos reward money, the maximum, depending on the status of the target, his social standing, and Duterte’s intensity of anger on the target individual. Aside from being given to us, these rewards were later on coursed (at first,

anti-crime task force. Mayor RRD personally and Macasaet. Eventually Sonny and

Macasaet. After 2004, Sonny Buenaventura. Minsan si Mayor pa rin sa extra, like

Jun Pala).”

 

‘MULTIPLIERS.’ According to his 2020 expanded affidavit, the number of DDS members grew over the years, as  they included police personnel from the Anti-Crime Task Force and “civilian force multipliers,” most of whom were former New People’s Army members. They included the following: Cris Lanay; Alias “Andong”; Alias “Jopet” and his brother “Gilbert”; brothers Bebot and Larry Manriquez; brothers Tony and Bebot Guinang; Edgar Matobato; Ludy Paguidopon; alias “Boboy Maldito”;  Alejandro Casas alias “Totpik”; Ferdinand Pantinople; Boy Pondoyo and alias Boy TsaTsa.

 

Also included were: alias “Insik”; alias “Yak-Yak,” nephew of SPO4 Fulgencio Pavo; Gerry Trocio; alias “Alex”; Alvin Laud, civilian son of SPO4 Ben Laud; dela Cerna brothers (Ayan, Yoyin, and Jong-Jong) and their stepfather alias “Long Hair,” who were force multipliers during Duterte’s  second term as mayor of Davao City; Duhilag brothers (Roland, Yan-Yan, Alan, and Valentin), who became our force multipliers/hitmen during the third term of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. They were handled by PO4 Ben Laud and SPO1 Jim Abragan Tan. SPO1 Jim Tan, who  also managed the “Mandug mass graves” in Barangay Mandug, where the Duhilag brothers reside. Lascanas said the force multipliers/hitmen received monthly salary and allowance from Duerte’s office. Their category was “contractual employee.” For every person they killed, they received P3,000 or P5,000 from their police handlers. The reward money came from Duterte.

 

In his expanded affidavit, Lascanas alleged that Duterte was a “covert member” of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA) and that he was part of the so-called “People’s Court” in Davao City, during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, or that “dark period,” when several members of the military and pro-government civilians and assets fell victims to summary executions in Davao City. This was an allegation that has remained uncorroborated, although a number of pictures were splashed on social media where he attended CPP-NPA affairs in an undisclosed place in Davao City..

 

Moreover, Lascanas claimed that after his reelection in 2001 (from a one-term stint in Congress from 1998-2001), the Heinous Crime Task Group Office was created. Duterte, according to Lascanas, “secretly” ordered, through Sonny Buenaventura and Bong Go, select Police Station Commanders in Davao City, to create and organize their own death squads and “to lethally foil and neutralize the alleged growing numbers of shabu users and pushers in Davao City.” This led to the birth of then Sr. Supt. Bato Dela Rosa’s “Operation Tokhang” campaign in Davao City. The Duterte Death Squad grew in number and this led to a bigger peace and order and intelligence funds.

 

Lascanas identified the members of the Heinous Crime Task Group, which functioned as part of the Davao-City PNP death squad from 2001 to 2016. They were; Inspector Fulgencio “Boy” Pavo, who functioned as the Task Group Commander; SPO3 Reynaldo Capute, Chief Investigator; SPO3 Simplicio Sagarino, Office/Field Investigator; SPO2 Antonio Balolong, Office/Field Investigator; SPO1 Arturo Bariquit Lascanas, Team Leader Field OPN; SPO1 Jim A. Tan, Office/Field Investigator; SPO4 Ben Laud, Team Leader, Special Operations; and SPO1, Ben Furog, Office/Field Investigator.

 

Other members: PO3 Jun Naresma – Intel-Field Operations; PO3 Jun Cabalinan, Office/Field Investigator; PO2 Arnold Dechavez, Intel- Field Operations; PO2 Rizalino Aquino, Intel- Field Operations; PO2 Jovencio Jumawan, Intel- Field Operations; PO2 Enrique “Jun” Ayao, Intel- Field Operations; PO1 Tata Miguellano, Women’s Desk/Finance Officer; PO1 Ronald Lao, Intel- Field Operations; PO1 Jay Francia, Intel- Field Operations; PO1 Reynante Medina, Intel- Field Operations; Sr. Inspector Dionisio Abude Jr., Task Group Commander vice retired Sr. Inspector Fulgencio Pavo.

 

POLICE HANDLERS. The police officers, who functioned as members of those death squads, did not limit themselves to their police functions. They were also the police handlers of the civilian assassins, whom they called “force multipliers” of the defunct Anti-Crime Task Force, reassigned to the Heinous Crime Task Group. SPO1 Jim Abragan Tan was the police handler of the group of Duhilag brothers in Barangay Mandug, Davao City, and the so-called “imported” players based outside of Davao City. They were the civilian component, or force multipliers in the Heinous Crime Task Group Office.

 

Lascanas claimed he was the police handler of force multipliers like Edgar Matobato, Alejandro “Totpik” Casas, Rolando Singuran alias “Miguel”, and Jimmy Duran. “Former Constabulary soldiers ‘Intelligence operatives’ Technical Sergeants LoLoy Lopez, Billy Sarabia, and Constable 1st Class Jun Villar alias “Karaw” were secretly under my care as their policeman- handler, on orders of Duterte. They received a monthly allowance of P10,000 cash money from Duterte through me. They were tasked to provide Duterte with vital intelligence information on matters of organized crime groups and his non-allies, who would wish to enter Davao City.”