Palace: President’s outburst vs ICC justified as leader of a sovereign country

President Rodrigo Duterte's profanity-laced outburst against the  International Criminal Court (ICC) was justified because such courts had no jurisdiction over him, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday.

Roque made the response in connection with the President’s comments calling the ICC "bullshit" and "crazy" after prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked for the ICC’s judicial authorization to proceed with an investigation on the Philippine government's drug war.

Bensouda said that the investigation was warranted as there was a “reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed in the Philippines between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the drug war.”

However, Roque countered, “It is BS (bullshit) because the Philippines is a sovereign country. If there is someone who must probe and put the President on trial, it would have to be the Filipino fiscals and trial will have to be before Filipino judges.”

Bensouda’s 52-page report cited data from police reports, human rights group Amnesty International, news agencies, the families of those who were killed, and their counsel as well as sources which/who were redacted.

These sources cited showed at least 6,000 people were killed in legitimate anti-drug police operations while 12,000 to 30,000 others were killed by vigilantes which also involved members of law enforcement.

In criticizing ICC, the President argued that colonizers of the past never apologized for their abuses to their colonies, including the Philippines which is a former colony of Spain, the United States, and Japan.

“Itong ICC bullshit ito. I will not, why would I defend or face an accusation before white people. You must be crazy. 'Yung colonizers dito they have not atoned for the sins against the countries they have invaded including the Philippines," Duterte said during his weekly Talk to the People briefing.

"Tapos ito ngayon sila (And now) they try to set up a court outside the country and make us liable to face them."

Asked if the non-apology of colonizers justified the unabated drug war killings, Roque replied “I don’t know why you came up with such a conclusion.” — DVM, GMA News