Vice President Sara Duterte defended her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as members of the House of Representatives urged government cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), reminding them of President Marcos’ position and saying that it would be "unconstitutional" to allow the ICC investigation.
(From left) Former president Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte (Presidential Photo)
The official addressed the “sudden and unannounced joint meetings” by the House that called for government cooperation with the ICC prosecution office into her father’s bloody war on drugs.
“To allow ICC prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes that are now under the exclusive jurisdiction of our prosecutors and our courts is not only patently unconstitutional but effectively belittles and degrades our legal institutions,” she said.
The Vice President also asked them not to insult the country’s courts by allowing foreigners to handle domestic issues.
“Huwag nating insultuhin at bigyan ng kahihiyan ang ating mga hukuman sa pamamagitan ng pagpapakita sa mundo na tayo ay naniniwala na mga dayuhan lang ang tanging may abilidad na magbigay ng katarungan at hustisya sa ating sariling bayan (Let us not insult and give shame to our courts by letting the world see that we believe foreigners are the only ones with ability to ascertain justice in our own country),” she added.
Duterte then reminded members of the House of Representatives, once allies of her father and their entire family, of Marcos’ position on the ICC investigation.
“I respectfully remind our honorable lawmakers of the very words that our President, His Excellency Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. reiterated less than half a year ago,” she said.
She ran with Marcos under the UniTeam ticket but has since had an alleged falling out with the President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, quoted the Chief Executive.
Earlier, Marcos said that “Any probe conducted by the ICC would be an intrusion into our internal matters, and a threat to our sovereignty.”
“We are done talking with the ICC. Like what we have been saying from the beginning, we will not cooperate with them in any way, shape, or form,” he added.
House Resolution 1477, authored by human rights panel chairperson Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante and 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, calls on the Marcos administration “to extend their full cooperation to the ICC Prosecutor” in its investigation of any crimes committed under its jurisdiction.
The resolution noted that the ICC’s jurisdiction includes but is not limited to “the crime against humanity of murder, committed in the Philippines in the context of the so-called `war on drugs' campaign.”
The elder Duterte and Senator Ronald dela Rosa, then police chief and enforcer of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs campaign, are among the officials accused of crimes against humanity before the ICC for the thousands who died during the bloody campaign.
The former president had ordered the withdrawal of the Philippines from its membership in the ICC in 2018 following the international tribunal’s preliminary investigation into the violent drug war, but Article 127 of the Rome Statute said that a state party cannot be discharged of its obligations to the statute before the withdrawal date.
The Supreme Court has ruled that “withdrawing from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from obligations it has incurred as a member.”
The previous administration’s war on drugs had reportedly killed over 6,000 people, with different international human rights organizations putting the actual number of deaths up to 12,000 to 35,000.