House Committee on Human Rights Chair Bienvenido Abante Jr. urged fellow lawmakers to support Filipinos who want to testify before the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding alleged abuses during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Abante said many potential witnesses and victims’ families cannot afford travel to The Hague in the Netherlands, where the ICC is conducting its investigation into drug war killings. He noted that most of them come from poor communities heavily affected by police operations.
He said he is prepared to help shoulder their travel expenses so they can appear before the tribunal and present their accounts. According to Abante, the scale of what he described as the alleged “war against humanity” under the Duterte administration must be brought to light.
The lawmaker cited the case of a nine-year-old child in Cebu City who was hit by a stray bullet during an anti-drug operation as an example of how far-reaching the drug war’s effects had been. He added that numerous victims were not drug peddlers, contradicting the narrative that only criminals were targeted.
Akbayan Partylist Representative Perci Cendana confirmed that he and his colleagues plan to file the EJK Victims Recognition and Reparation Act. The measure seeks financial and legal aid for families of those killed in drug-related police actions.
If passed, the bill would also establish a truth commission tasked with documenting human rights violations linked to the drug war. Cendana said the initiative aims to ensure that victims receive recognition and that the events of previous years are officially recorded.
The ICC investigation continues despite the Philippine government’s earlier withdrawal from the tribunal.
