BARILAN SA ATENEO

NABALUTAN ng pulitika ang barilan sa Ateneo University noong Linggo. Kaagad kumalat sa social media ang perception ng ilang netizen na panatikong tagasuporta ni Rodrigo Duterte at BBM ang suspect na si Chao Tiao Yumol, 38, doktor mula Lamitan City, Basilan. Samantala, ang pangunahing biktima na si Rose Furigan, dating alkalde ng Lamitan, ay isang masugid na tagasuporta ni dating Bise Presidente Leni Robredo. Batay sa kanyang mga nakalipas na post sa social media, sinabi ng ilang netizen na matindi ang galit ni Yumol kay Furigan dahil sa salungat na paniniwala sa pulitika.

Pinatohanan ni Police Brig. Gen. Remus Medina, hepe ng Quezon City Police Department, na

Matindi ang pagkasuklam ni Yumol kay Furigan. “Determinado siyang patayin si Furigan,” aniya. Hindi binanggit ni Medina ang anggulo ng magkasalungat na panindigan sa pulitika bagaman ipinaliwanag niya na lumalabas sa paunang pagsisiyasat na plano ni Yumol na patayin si Furigay. Binanggit ni Medina na nagharap na mga sakdal si Yumol at Furigay. Ayon kay Robredo, sinuportahan ni Furigay ang mga programa ng Angat Buhay sa Basilan.

Nabalutan ng kontrobersya ang madugong insidente sa Ateneo dahil sa tweet ng isang patnugot ng PTV-4 na “nagbarilan ang pinklawan at dilawan.” Pinagtawanan ang tweet ng isang Den Macaranas sapagkat lumutang na isang BBM supporter si Yumol. May ulat ang isang pahayagan na may isang suspect umano na nasa custody ng pulis. Kinilala ang ikalawang suspect na si Ramil Nicomedes. Hindi malaman kung nagkasama ang dalawang suspect o nag-iisa si Yumol sa krimen.

Katanungan kung ano ang kahihitnan ng krimen. May mga ilang pananaw na mukhang nasiraan ng bait si Yumol. Maraming espekulasyon. Hindi kami magtaka kung magharap si Yumol ng plea og insanity sa hukuman. Mukhang ito ang direksyon ng imbestigasyon. Palabasin na nabaliw si Yumol upang makakuha ng hatol na acquittal. Manmanan.

***

HALAW ang mga sumusunod sa aming aklat “KILL KILL KILL: EJKs in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity vs. Duterte Et. Al. at the ICC.” Nasa huling yugto na ako na pagsusulat.

ICC’S TURN

A MONTH after the fateful meeting between Trillanes and the unnamed European lawmaker, it was the turn of the ICC, through Fatou Bensouda, then chief of its Office of the Prosecutor, to speak. Bensouda said:

“My Office is aware of worrying reported extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users in the Philippines, which may have led to over 3,000 deaths in the past three months. I am deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings and further seem to encourage State forces and civilians alike to continue targeting these individuals with lethal force.” Bensouda reminded the Duterte government that “extrajudicial killings may fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC if they are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to a State policy to commit such an attack.“

Moreover, Bensouda reminded Duterte that the Philippines was a member of the ICC and that “the Court has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed on the territory or by nationals of the Philippines since 1 November 2011, the date when the Statute entered into force in the Philippines.” She ended her statement with a dire warning: “Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the Court.”

By all means, Bensouda’s statement has far-reaching implications to indicate a changing world. Gone were the days when a leader could do what he liked in the most despotic and brutal ways. The current world order has come out with ways to check leaders, who have criminal tendencies to oppress their citizens. This is now part of the international criminal justice system, which the world order in the first half of the 20th century did not have. She flashed a signal to the political opposition in the Philippines to consider the ICC in its fight against Duterte’s war on drugs.

INTRODUCTION. Fatou Bensouda, the feisty and fiery woman from the African state of The Gambia, has cast a long shadow on the crimes against humanity charges against Duterte and others at the ICC. As its Chief Prosecutor, Bensouda approved in 2018 the move to conduct a preliminary investigation on Duterte and his subalterns. On June 14, 2021, or a day before she retired and completed her nine-year term at the ICC, Bensouda recommended to the three-man ICC Pre-Trial Chamber the move to conduct official investigation on Duterte and others.13

On September 27, 2021, the ICC, through the Pre-Trial Chamber, has formally authorized an official probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. The Court stated that there was reasonable basis to proceed with the probe noting that “specific legal element of the crime against humanity of murder” has been met in the crackdown that left thousands dead.

According to its ICC website, Fatou Bensouda of The Gambia was elected on December 12, 2011 by consensus as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by the Assembly of States Parties. Ms Bensouda was sworn in on 15 June 2012. Bensouda previously held the position of ICC Deputy Prosecutor (Prosecutions), having been elected with an overwhelming majority by the Assembly of States Parties on August 4 2004 and serving this post until May 2012.

Prior to her work at the ICC, Bensouda worked as Legal Adviser and Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, rising to the position of Senior Legal Advisor and Head of The Legal Advisory Unit. Before joining the ICTR, she was General Manager of a leading commercial bank in Gambia. Between 1987 and 2000, she was successively Senior State Counsel, Principal State Counsel, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Solicitor General and Legal Secretary of the Republic, and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, in which capacity she served as Chief Legal Advisor to the President and Cabinet of The Republic of The Gambia.

Bensouda also took part in negotiations on the treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Parliament and the ECOWAS Tribunal. She has served as delegate to United Nations conferences on crime prevention, the Organization of African Unity’s Ministerial Meetings on Human Rights, and as delegate of The Gambia to the meetings of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court. Bensouda holds a masters degree in International Maritime Law and Law of The Sea and as such is the first international maritime law expert of The Gambia.

***

MGA PILING SALITA: “They should audit all the loans incurred during the Duterte administration … where it went, how it was spent , and whether the terms and conditions were not onerous — it’s time to hold Digong and his team accountable.” – Typhoon Estong, netizen

“Democracy in the PH is in peril. Martial law records have been wiped from govt websites. is facing jail for holding the line. Four human rights defenders have been abducted by state security without due process or any public record.” – Giselle Tongi, netizen