A resolution in defense of FPRRD

Last Wednesday, former president and current House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo implored her comrades in the lower house to “hold the line” for former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte in defending him over assumed threats from the International Criminal Court.

At this juncture, a call for “unequivocal defense” was made by former president Arroyo for her colleagues to declare such for the 16th president, who ended his term with a record-high trust and satisfaction rating. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte came to power in June 2016, taking along with him a campaign promise to put an end to criminality through the war on drugs.

House Resolution No.780 entitled “A Resolution In Defense of Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines, Against Investigation And/Or Prosecution by the International Criminal Court” was filed by former president Arroyo where she explained that the Philippines has a functioning and independent judicial system and that the country has since withdrawn its membership from the ICC.

In line with what Arroyo said – and what former president Duterte did – I too fully agree with the gravity and seriousness of the drug problem that afflicted every nook and cranny of our country. In those days, the common people will attest to the dangers in their own barangays – in the dark pathways leading to their residences that were usually accompanied by fear, most especially for their children, from addicts roaming about who, when Duterte “happened,” to say the least, became cautious and the streets were safer for passersby.

This for the most part brought dignity to our people, those who, unlike others, are not as fortunate as people living in more secured areas with the luxury of security provided for their families and homes.

In addition to the battle against illegal drugs, the Duterte administration, as president Arroyo expressed, brought about extraordinary achievements which, to me, was a stroke of genius, if one may call it, when it came to his unwavering campaign against insurgency, corruption and criminality in order for Filipinos to obtain a comfortable life for ALL.

More importantly, Arroyo also expressed the success in peace and order under a whole-of-nation approach in ending both insurgency and the drug threat under the leadership of president Duterte.

In House Resolution No. 780 therefore, former president and now Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressed that the former president was “convinced that fighting illegal drugs, along with corruption and other crimes, is a prerequisite for achieving genuine growth and prosperity” for our country and that even the Justice secretary himself (Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla) described the decision of the ICC authorizing the prosecutor to resume its investigation on crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Duterte in the pursuit of the war on drugs as “insulting” and totally unacceptable.

As stated, the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC and to date, the Marcos administration has no intention of rejoining the organization.

House Resolution No.780 is co-authored by fellow kapampangan lawmakers namely, Representatives Carmelo Lazatin, Aurelio Gonzales and Anna York Bondoc.