MANILA, Philippines — After announcing that he is retiring from politics, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would go back to his hometown Davao and prepare his defense for the investigation of the International Criminal Court over his bloody “war on drugs.”
But even as Duterte said he is preparing for his defense, the Philippine president again asserted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over his person.
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In a taped public address that aired late Monday night, Duterte said his ratings are going down because people want him to stop joining politics. “They want me to return to Davao City and wait. For those who keep yapping about the case, I will wait for you. I will prepare for my defense, that ICC thing,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Duterte on Saturday announced that he is retiring from politics. He made a similar statement in 2015, but he still ran for presidency in 2016 and won.
The president continued: “Huwag lang kayong magsinungaling. Kung totoo lang tutal may record naman. Huwag kayong mag-imbento na ‘yung namatay ng malaria diyan pati—ica-charge ninyo sa akin. Kalokohan na ‘yan.”
(Just do not lie. If that is true, there should be a record. Do not make up evidence like including someone who died of malaria—that that too will be charged against me. That’s bullshit.)
Duterte, however, asserted that the Philippines has a working justice system and the ICC “never acquired jurisdiction over [his] person.”
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber has approved the request of the Office of the Prosecutor to launch an investigation into Duterte and his men, who are accused of committing crimes against humanity over their bloody “war on drugs.”
The investigation will also cover alleged killings in Davao City between 2011 and 2016, when Duterte was in the local government of the southern Philippine city.
While the Duterte administration remains adamant that they will not cooperate with the probe due to supposedly lack of jurisdiction, the international tribunal, however, said it had jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico