Dwayne Pelagio

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Oct. 15 that evidence found in Duterte’s drug war should go to the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman, not the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Photo Courtesy of Radyo Pilipinas/Human Rights Watch.

“It would be even better if all the evidence gathered from the congressional committee hearings were turned over to our own executive agencies for appropriate investigation and prosecution,” Guevarra told reporters.

He asserted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and the House QuadComm hearings are sufficient reasons to cease its investigation on the previous administration’s drug war.

“The quad committee on its own can turn over the evidence and refer its initial findings to the DOJ and Ombudsman,” Guevarra added.

Guevarra also mentioned that the role of the Solicitor General in the issue “will come in much later.”

The solicitor general also said in an interview that there were rumors about the alleged reward system for slain drug suspects during the previous administration but none came forward to confirm it.

The said system was exposed during the House quad committee hearing by former PCSO chief Royina Garma.

Garma testified that she was called by former president Rodrigo Duterte to look for a police officer who could implement the “Davao model” on a national scale.

The Davao model is a system involving “payments and rewards.”

According to the Human Rights Watch, over 12,000 Filipinos have been killed during the previous administration’s war on drugs.