Former President Rodrigo Duterte attends the Quad-Comm hearing on the extrajudicial killings, addressing alleged human rights violations from his administration’s war on drugs, November 13, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Former President Rodrigo Duterte made several inconsistent remarks during the quad committee investigation on his war on drugs, a lawmaker and former senator Leila de Lima said Thursday. 

De Lima said that while Duterte dared the International Criminal Court to rush its separate investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity in the drug crackdown, he also asserted that the ICC had no jurisdiction over the campaign. 

“Talagang mapapansin mo yung mga inconsistencies. Napansin ko nga on one hand sinabi niya, hinihintay na lang yung ICC, napakabagal daw, puwede dumating na ngayong araw… But then after that, maya-maya ang sinabi naman niya, hindi niya kinikilala o walang jurisdiction ang ICC,” De Lima said. 

“Yun ho ang style niya e, kumakambyo kaya hindi mo na alam saan siya seryoso o hindi,” she told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.  

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The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte's instructions, but the tribunal has said it has jurisdiction over killings before the pullout, as well as killings in Davao City when Duterte was mayor there, years before he became president.

During the quad comm hearing on Wednesday, Duterte reiterated that he was taking full responsibility for the drug war. 

But he refused to take accountability for some incidents related to the drug war, such as the deaths of several local officials, Batangas Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro said. 

“Alin ba yung tinutukoy niya na he’s taking full responsibility to all the victims of the war on drugs when he’s denying accountability in these individual incidents,” Luistro told TeleRadyo Serbisyo. 

“My impression about the former President e kagaya rin ng mga statement niya to the media, kagaya rin ng mga statement niya sa Senate, nagkakaroon ng inconsistencies. I just don’t know kung ito ay sinasadya niya or is it natural from his end.” 

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De Lima added, “Sasabihin niya I take full and complete responsibility, and yet, sa kabilang banda, meron din siyang mga statements na ‘yang mga pulis na ‘yan mali yung mga ginawa, yung mga pagpatay ng mga kung sino-sino, mga inosente.” 

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The quad comm “will be interested” in having Duterte in its next hearings, Luistro said.

“The question na lang is whether it is his intention to attend nang tuloy-tuloy,” she said. 

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Police said the drug war left more than 6,000 people dead, but rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

While the crackdown has been widely condemned and sparked an international investigation, only nine police officers have been convicted for killing drug suspects.

The drug war has continued under Duterte's successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., though he has pushed for more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse