Ka Leody to allow ICC probe on drug war if elected

Labor leader and presidential candidate Leody de Guzman will welcome the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s probe of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs if he gets elected in the 2022 May polls.

De Guzman vowed to continue pursuing justice against President Rodrigo Duterte and the family of his fellow contender, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“Nasa program namin yun…talagang hahabulin namin na i-review yung mga kaso (ng pamilya Marcos) and then mga ninakaw na natitira pa,” he said in an interview with Rappler on Thursday.

(That’s part of our program... we’ll review the cases (against the Marcoses) and their remaining ill-gotten wealth.)

“Pati yung pag-iimbestiga ng ICC, papapasukin natin at papapanagutin natin si Pangulong Duterte kung may kasalanan,” he added.

(We will allow the ICC to probe. We’ll welcome them and we’ll hold President Duterte accountable if he has wrongdoings.)

To recall, the international court has launched an investigation into the alleged human rights abuses committed under the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration.

The ICC, however, temporarily suspended its probe after the Philippines requested prosecutors to defer to the government's investigation into the drug war killings.

According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, some 6,000 drug suspects have been killed in the drug war as of December 2021.

Several human rights groups refuted the data and claimed the actual death to stand at around 12,000 to 30,000.

Interviewed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa, de Guzman was asked about his plans for his first 100 days should he win in the upcoming elections.

The Pilipino Lakas ng Masa (PLM) standard bearer said he would address the hunger crisis and malnutrition in the country and would likewise push for workers’ rights.

He would do it through the implementation of his so-called “Labor First Policy” which aims to end contractualization and raise the daily minimum wage to P750, among others.—LDF, GMA News