Press Release
August 30, 2021

Dispatch from Crame No. 1,136:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the ICC Victims Report

The Victims Participation and Reparations Section (VPRS) of the ICC submitted its victim consultation report on the Philippine case to the ICC Registry last August 27, 2021. It is the fifth victim consultation exercise conducted by the VPRS. The victim consultation of the ICC aims to get the side of the victims in the Philippine drug war, preliminary to making its decision of whether or not to order the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) to conduct a formal investigation on the Philippine case.

The VPRS report states that an overwhelming number of the 204 victims' representatives (representing 1,530 victims), or 94%, want the ICC to continue with the investigation of the Philippine case. The victims reported murder, attempted murder, imprisonment, sexual assault, enforced disappearance, and torture. The report also noted the Supreme Court decision which declared that the ICC retains jurisdiction over the subject crimes committed until March 17, 2019.

Again, it must be repeated to Duterte that the ICC process is REAL, and it is becoming more real for him as certain procedures are accomplished towards the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber to order an investigation on the Philippines.

This also brings hope to all the families of the victims of Duterte's drug war, that the ICC is working and that it is their best hope for justice.

It is only a matter of time before identified perpetrators of Duterte's drug war start cutting deals with the OTP to stand as witnesses against Duterte and the other masterminds of the drug war. It is, therefore, not a remote possibility that a new round of killings arising from the drug war will soon take place - that kind of killing intended to cleanse the ranks of the drug war assassins or whistle-blowers.

This happened in Davao with the DDS after the CHR investigation, when a number of the non-police component of the DDS, mostly rebel returnees, were eliminated to prevent them from testifying against Duterte and their DDS police handlers. It is not farfetched that this will happen again, especially with Duterte running out of time, both here in the Philippines and in the Hague. ###

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1136)

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