In going to trial, ICC notes evidence of fake ‘nanlaban,’ ‘ghost’ DDS workers

MANILA, Philippines – Part of what convinced judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to move the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte to trial is evidence of faked “nanlaban” (fighting back) deaths in the bloody war on drugs, and employing death squad assassins as city hall employees of Davao City.

The all-women judges of the ICC’s pre-trial chamber found that there were substantial grounds to believe that Duterte was an indirect co-perpetrator of crimes against humanity in the Philippines. Two of the three counts refer to the war on drugs, one count for high-value targets, and another count for those killed in Oplan TokHang. In many of these killings, police said the suspects fought back.

“Insider Witnesses… further affirm that the narratives of self-defense in documentary materials, especially originating from the Philippine National Police [PNP], were ‘false’, ‘invented’ and did not correspond with what actually happened,” read part of the decision on Thursday, April 3.

The ICC said “evidence provided by witnesses who were directly involved in the above incidents consistently indicates that there were no threats posed by victims to the direct perpetrators.”

“After the killings were carried out, the direct perpetrators followed a similar modus operandi, i.e. planted drugs, money as well as guns or gun powder on or nearby the victims’ bodies and, on some occasions, even fired the gun in the victim’s hand to make it look as if the victim had fired shots,” the ICC said.

At this stage, the ICC judges were able to study testimonies of 11 insider witnesses, seven crime-based witnesses, one expert witness and seven other witnesses.

The direct perpetrators were those who fired the guns, whether they were police officers during the drug war, or assassins of the Davao Death Squad. Duterte’s co-perpetrators are allegedly former police chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Senator Bong Go, and other high-ranking police generals during that time.

A witness said the indirect co-perpetrators, dela Rosa and the others, effectively controlled the direct perpetrators either by way of debt or other “circumstances in which they could hold something over their subordinates.”

“The co-perpetrators were able to exploit their circumstances to secure the individuals’ participation and compliance with their instructions, thereby indicating the control of the Co-Perpetrators over the direct perpetrators,” said the decision.

DDS as ghost employees?

The first count in the charges are killings allegedly carried out by the Davao Death Squad (DDS). The prosecution has insider witnesses who point to Duterte as head of the death squad.

One witness said that “during Mr Duterte’s time as Mayor of Davao City, DDS members were ‘ghost employees’ of the city hall.”

That there are allegedly ghost employees in the Davao City Hall when Duterte was mayor had been a longtime allegation. In 2015, state auditors found that some employees on the city government’s payroll lacked proper documentation. Duterte critic, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, alleged that these so-called ghost employees were paid for by Duterte’s unexplained wealth.

That complaint never went far; however, it has been repeated in the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) confirmed this week that there have been suspicious transactions involving P6 billion in cash inflows and outflows in Sara Duterte’s bank accounts.

At the ICC, the judges said the witness “is corroborated by a Davao City government document of 2013 in which a DDS member is described as an ‘Auxiliary Service Worker’ assigned to the Heinous Crime and Investigation Section of the city.”

The next move would be to form a trial chamber that would then decide the next procedures and set the timelines.

The ICC prosecution said the decision to move to trial “reflects the strength and depth of the Prosecution’s investigation and evidentiary record.”

“The Office of the Prosecutor reiterates its unwavering commitment to pursuing justice for victims and affected communities and will continue to take all necessary steps, in accordance with its mandate, to ensure that accountability is achieved without delay,” said the office. – Rappler.com