In his much-anticipated testimony in the Senate today, former President Rodrigo Duterte said he takes “full legal, moral responsibility” for the war on drugs that has caused the extrajudicial killing of anywhere from 12,000 to 30,000 suspected drug addicts and pushers, most of whom belong to the poorest section of society, and numerous other human rights violations.

There is nothing new in Duterte’s statements. Various scholarly research and civil society reports have repeatedly said that Duterte ordered and funded the drug war, and protected the handful police officers who were accused of committing extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations and crimes in the course of implementing the drug war.

What should be new is the outcome of Duterte’s testimony. What should be new is that Duterte should be held accountable now. The government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr should immediately file criminal charges against Duterte, ensure a speedy trial, and jail the former president. Duterte’s crimes against the Filipino workers and people are so great that his advanced age is not an excuse for him not to be jailed.

Without immediate action by the Marcos Jr government, the kid-glove treatment of Duterte in the investigation will be further exposed as an effort to improve Marcos candidates’ chances in the upcoming mid-term 2025 elections, at the expense of the Dutertes.

Without immediate action by the Marcos Jr government, the investigation will also be exposed as an attempt to show that the country’s legal and judicial processes are working. The end goal of the second, of course, is to show that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is not needed in seeking accountability for the deaths and crimes committed by the police and the Duterte government during the drug war.

We agree with the statement of Sen. Leila de Lima during the hearing, in response to Duterte’s statements: “We can destroy and we need to destroy drugs, but we can’t destroy lives. That’s my answer to the very passionate defense of the former president as to his policy of killings, alleged drug offenders, alleged pushers, alleged drug users.”

We need to fight illegal drugs, but most importantly the biggest drug cartels. At the same time, fighting illegal drugs must not be carried out at the expense of people’s basic right to life, human rights, people’s right to due process, and the integrity of the country’s courts and political institutions.