President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. mentioned on Saturday he wouldn’t cooperate with the inquiry of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the abuses within the marketing campaign towards unlawful medicine of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Speaking to reporters in Baguio City, Marcos mentioned his place on the ICC probe has not modified.
“I have stated it often, even before I took office as President, that there are many questions about their jurisdiction and what we in the Philippines regard as an intrusion into our internal matters and a threat to our sovereignty,” he mentioned.
“So no, I do not see what their jurisdiction is. I feel that we have in our police, in our judiciary, a good system. We do not need assistance from any outside entity, the Philippines is a sovereign nation, and we are not colonies anymore of these former imperialists. So that is not something that we consider to be a legitimate judgment,” he added.
Marcos mentioned that “until those questions of jurisdiction and the effects on the sovereignty of the Republic are sufficiently answered, I cannot cooperate with them.”
Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the Hague-based tribunal in 2019 after it started a preliminary probe into the crackdown, adopted by the launch of a proper inquiry later that 12 months.
But the probe was suspended in November 2021 after Manila mentioned it was re-examining circumstances of drug operations that led to deaths by the hands of police, hitmen, and vigilantes.
Officially, greater than 6,000 individuals had been killed in Duterte’s anti-narcotics marketing campaign, however rights teams say that as much as 30,000 might have been killed.
The ICC final month approved the reopening of an inquiry into the drug battle.
On February 16, the ICC prosecutor urged the ICC Appeals Chamber to dismiss the Philippine authorities’s software for the suspension of the reopening of the investigation.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero questioned why the previous president ought to be below ICC investigation if no prices had been introduced towards him within the Philippines.
“Ang tanong ko, bakit may nagiimbestiga kay Duterte sa ICC laban sa kanya? Mayroon na bang isang kasong inihain sa Pilipinas laban kay Pangulong Duterte kaugnay sa pagpatay na naganap o nangyari sa ilalim ng kanyang drug war nung siya ay pangulo?” Escudero, a lawyer, mentioned in The Mangahas Interviews.
(My query is: why is the ICC investigating Duterte? Has a case been filed towards President Duterte within the Philippines concerning the killings dedicated in his battle on medicine?)
“Dahil yun ang pinakamaliwanag na ebidensya na kung saka-sakali na may tumatakbong sistema ng hustisya sa bansa. Pero kung wala namang nagkaso, mali namang sabihin na yun ang basehan para sabihing hindi tumatakbo ang judicial system natin kung wala naman naghain ng reklamo o nagsampa ng kaso,” he added.
(Because that might be clear proof, if ever, of whether or not there’s a functioning justice system in our nation. If no circumstances are filed, it could be incorrect to say that our judicial system is ineffective.)
A bunch of House members led by former President and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed a decision on Thursday defending Duterte towards any probe by the ICC.
Through House Resolution 780, the lawmakers mentioned Duterte’s presidency “has ushered exceptional accomplishments caused by his relentless marketing campaign towards unlawful medicine, insurgency, separatism and terrorism, corruption in authorities and criminality thus making the life of each Filipino higher, snug and peaceable.”
“Nabasa ko yung resolution ng Kamara at may basehan naman, isa sa mga requirement bago imbestigahan ng ICC ang isang tao sa isang bansa dating pangulo man o sino mang opisyal ay hindi nagfufunction yung ating judicial at investigative system na hindi naman ‘yan ang kaso sa Pilipinas,” Escudero mentioned.
(I’ve learn the proposed decision, and I consider there’s a foundation for it. One of the necessities to ensure that the ICC to analyze a person of a sure nation, whether or not a former president or any official, is that the judicial and investigative methods are usually not working, which isn’t the case for the Philippines.) — with Richa Noriega/VBL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
