Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque belittled on Tuesday, Nov. 9 the opposition raised by a group of 152 Filipino lawyers to his candidacy to the International Law Commission (ILC).
"Para po sa kaalaman ng ating mga kababayan, unang-una, mayroon po tayong mahigit na 78,000 na abugado sa Pilipinas. Kung 152 po ang kumontra sa aking nominasyon, ito po'y katumbas ng 0.001 percent (For the information of our countrymen, first of all, we have over 78,000 lawyers in the Philippines. The 152 that opposed my nomination is equivalent to 0.001 percent of them)," Roque said in a virtual press conference.
He said the "noisy" group is composed of administration critics like leftist factions and members of the Otso Diretso opposition Senate slate that lost in the 2016 local elections.
"Ang ugat po nito, ang sinasabi po nila, eh wag daw ako dapat iboto dahil ako po'y pumayag na maging spokesperson ng Pangulo (The root cause of this is, they're saying that I shouldn't be voted into the ILC since I agreed to become the spokesperson of the President)," Roque noted.
Last September, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it would begin the formal investigation on President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs for alleged crimes against humanity.
"Tinututulan po nila tayo dahil ang pagiging spokesperson daw natin ay mayroon tayong guilt by association kay Presidente. Unang-una, wala pong ganun (They are opposing my nomination because my being the spokesperson allegedly gives me guilt by association to the President. First of all, there is no such thing). There is no such as guilt by association. Pangalawa po, wala pa pong napatunayang krimen laban sa Presidente (Second, no crime has been proven yet on the part of the President).
"Ang preliminary investigation po ay laban sa drug war sa Pilipinas, ni hindi po ito laban kay Presidente Duterte. At ito po ay nasa preliminary investigation pa lang po at lahat po ng mga paratang ay paratang pa lamang. Dadaan pa po yan sa butas ng karayom dahil mayroon po tayong tinatawag na complimentarity (The preliminary investigation in on the Philippine drug war, it's not even about the President Duterte. And this is only a preliminary investigation, all allegations remain as allegations. This will have to go through the needle's hole since we have what we call complimentarity)," Roque explained.
If anything, the Palace spokesman said he is troubled that he has 152 fellow lawyers who have ignored Duterte's right to due process and presumption of innocence.
Roque flew to New York in the United States (US) to seek his nomination to the ILC on the second week of September. He was stateside again just two weeks ago to attend activities related to his nomination.
Roque said the move of the small of group of lawyers is part the Filipinos' "crab mentality". "Mayroon talagang ilang mga Pilipino na hindi matatanggal ang utak-talangka (There are some Filipinos who really can't get rid of their crab mentality)."
Asked if he was hurt or insulted by their opposition to his ILC bid, Roque said it's just "part of politics".
"I take it in good stride, confident po that the states will evaluate the individual credentials of all the candidates for ILC because this is an expert body po," he said.
According to him, the main qualification for nomination to the ILC is an individual's expertise in international law.
Roque claimed that the lawyer-oppositors were "linked" to the rallyists who tried to storm a reception in New York that he attended last month.