Manila 1st district Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. and Lanao del Norte 1st district Rep. Khalid Dimaporo have both raised the question: Why fear an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation if you have nothing to hide?
Rodrigo Duterte served as Philippine president from 2016 to 2022. His administration is infamous for its bloody war against illegal drugs,
Ranking solons ask: Why fear ICC if you have nothing to hide?
Feb 21, 2024 11:31 PM
At a glance
Former president Rodrigo Duterte (Malacañang photo)
Why fear an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation if you have nothing to hide?
Manila 1st district Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. and Lanao del Norte 1st district Rep. Khalid Dimaporo raised this question in connection with former president Rodrigo Duterte, who could potentially face alleged human rights violations committed during his six-year Palace term.
“Personally, I, like all of us congressmen here, stand with the President [Marcos] that ICC really has no jurisdiction [over the Philippines]. But if you have nothing to hide--more or less--why will you be afraid when ICC comes in?” Dionisio, an assistant majority leader, said in a press conference Tuesday, Feb. 20 at the House of Representatives.
Dimaporo, chairman of the House Committee on Muslim Affairs, echoed the Manila congressman's sentiments.
“If there is nothing to hide, then why fear the ICC? On the part of the President, it’s more of our national sovereignty that our institutions are still functioning,” he said.
The two majority House members were alluding to President Marcos' earlier reiteration that his government won't cooperate with the ICC regarding the probe.
Duterte served as Philippine president from 2016 to 2022. His administration is infamous for its bloody war against illegal drugs, which practically began the day he assumed the presidency.
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“I don’t believe it will be a detriment on the part of the Philippine government to have it confirmed by the ICC--whether there was or whether there was not any extra-judicial killings during the concept on the war on drugs of the previous administration,” Dimaporo added.
It was reported last Monday that 59 percent of Filipinos--or nearly six out of 10--wanted the Philippines to rejoin the ICC, based on an OCTA Research survey conducted from Dec. 10 to 14, 2024.
It was March 2018 when then-president Duterte ordered the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC.
This, after ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she would start a preliminary examination against Duterte in connection with complaints on his bloody war against drugs.