Reelectionist Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa reiterated that the Marcos administration violated former president Rodrigo Duterte’s constitutional rights when it handed him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa made the remark echoing a lawyer’s view on the government’s move to surrender the former leader to the ICC during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on the issue.
The senatorial candidate lamented that politics have blinded the government’s standards when it comes to recognizing the guarantees given to every Filipino by the Constitution.
The senator said Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, and the rest of the members of the Marcos Cabinet should remember that the “symbol of justice is blindfolded because there should be no bias when it comes to the implementation and observance of the law.”
“Hindi lang mga taga-suporta ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang mismong nagsabi na may paglabag sa karaparatan ng ating kapwa Pilipino sa pagsuko kanya sa ICC (It is not only supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte who themselves said that there was a violation of the rights of our fellow Filipinos in surrendering him to the ICC),” Dela Rosa said.
Former president Duterte and Dela Rosa earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to permanently prohibit the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC.
Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, was Duterte’s chief implementor of his war on drugs
He has since defended the necessity of Duterte’s war on drugs to eradicate the cause of heinous crimes in the country.