No formal ICC notice yet on Duterte drug war probe – Escudero

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Senate has not yet received any formal communication from International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators regarding Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, according to Senate President Chiz Escudero.

At a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Tuesday, Escudero was asked whether ICC investigators could use the revelations made by Duterte in the October 28 Senate probe into the previous administration’s bloody drug war.

One of Duterte’s exposés was his admission that he ordered his policemen to “encourage suspected criminals to fight back” so that they could be “killed.”

READ: Duterte takes ‘full legal, moral responsibility’ for drug war

“I have no idea about this ICC. I keep on reading about it but no formal communication has been sent to me as Senate President [and] no formal communication has been sent to the Senate about that,” said Escudero.

“Whatever I read about ICC is only from Filipinos who claimed to be talking to them. But no formal communication or letter from the ICC for me to actually make an educated evaluation of what they will do or where they are right now in the current situation,” he added.

The anti-drug campaign made the former president a central figure in the ICC’s investigation into crimes against humanity, based on complaints filed by families of drug war victims.

READ: Bato dela Rosa urged to explain role in Duterte ‘drug war’ before ICC

Sen. Bato dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s top police officer, was also named among the officials accused of crimes against humanity by the families of drug war victims before the ICC.