“Had I only been allowed, I would have grabbed him by the hair,” Llore Pasco, the mother of two victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s fake war on drugs, said upon seeing the former president enter Congress on November 13. Duterte attended the hearing of the Congress’ Quad Committee investigating his regime’s extrajudicial killings.

“I am so furious about his admission to the killings, like he was killing mere animals,” Pasco stated at a press conference held by progressive representatives, parties, and lawyers on November 14.

“I felt discomfort seeing him, sitting next to him at a table,” said Jane Lee, the wife of another victim. She was furious at Duterte’s casual statement about killing alleged “criminals” and his lack of remorse for his actions.

“My husband was not a criminal, yet he was killed. There was no due process, he was even accused of being a criminal. Our children do not deserve this,” she said. Lee also condemned those who accompanied Duterte who laughed when the the former president uttered invectives.

After a long and difficult struggle to seek justice, the victims’ families did not expect that they will end up with a Congress investigation. Lee questioned President Marcos’ silence given that there is now an investigation and the victims’ families have many supporters. “Why is his support taking so long and is so slow?”

During the lengthy hearing, Duterte repeatedly admitted his “legal and moral” responsibility for the war on drugs but refused to confess or evaded specific cases and gave no details of the killings he admitted to have committed.

“He spun us around with legal words to avoid accountability for specific cases,” Gabriela Women’s Party former representative and Makabayan senatorial candidate Liza Maza said. However, Duterte’s statements, she said, clearly confirm that killings under the fake war on drugs were a state policy.

Karapatan’s Cristina Palabay agreed with former senator Leila de Lima’s earlier judgment that Duterte is a coward. “He is duplicitous,” she said. “We call on the Quad Committee to resist Duterte’s evasion of his use of public funds,” she added.

Duterte admitted to funding police operations and that unspent remaining funds were “awarded” to them. Palabay emphasized investigating Duterte’s use of his then large confidential and intelligence funds.

Palabay also urged the Quad Committee to investigate other extrajudicial killings of unionists and human rights defenders, as the police and officials involved in the war on drugs also perpetrated these. “Follow the money,” Palabay urged, as this would certainly expose Duterte’s full responsibility for the many killings.

Duterte’s admissions to the Quad Committee can be used in the International Criminal Court (ICC), Bayan Muna Partylist’s Atty. Neri Colmenares said. This includes his admission that he was aware of the widespread and systematic attacks on civilians under the war on drugs. More than that, he admitted that he created, operated, and funded a death squad in Davao when he was the mayor there.

Legislators’ querying led Duterte to further incriminate himself, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chairperson and Makabayan senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño said. Casiño called on the Quad Committee to continue the hearing and investigate Duterte’s funding for the war on drugs.

Casiño added that the Quad should push Duterte to sign a waiver to investigate his bank accounts, as insisted by former Senator Antonio Trillanes who said this is where Duterte received the bribes from his favored big drug lords.

There is enough evidence to prosecute Duterte, said Casiño, and he should be indicted. “The Marcos government is now responsible to build the case against Duterte.”

Also present at the press conference were Rep. Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela Women’s Partylist, former Rep. Sarah Elago, and other families of the victims. Democratic groups, along with the families of the victims, held a rally before Congress on the day of the hearing to demand the arrest and imprisonment of the criminal Duterte.