De Lima: SC decision shows Duterte can’t evade ICC probe

Senator Leila de Lima said she welcomed the recent Supreme Court (SC) Decision ruling that President Rodrigo Duterte “cannot evade” the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on charges that he committed crimes against humanity in the drug war.

The detained senator said the decision of the SC on the unilateral withdrawal of Duterte from the Rome Statute “is yet another reminder of how Duterte abused the Office of the President by bending our foreign policy, albeit unsuccessfully, solely for his personal benefit.”

“Ano pa nga ba ang dahilan ng pag-alis ni Duterte mula sa Rome Statute/ICC kundi para iwasan ang mga napipintong kaso laban sa kaniya at sa polisiya niya ng malawakang pagpatay sa ilalim ng kaniyang War on Drugs?” she said in a dispatch from Camp Crame.

De Lima said she takes comfort in the fact that the high court echoed the pronouncement of former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda when it declared that the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute did not operate to discharge the Philippines from obligations incurred while the country was still a state party.

“Ibig sabihin, mananagot at mananagot pa rin si Duterte sa mga kasalanang naganap bago opisyal na nakaalis ang Pilipinas sa ICC noong March 17, 2019,” she said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)