“While it may be an ultimate nightmare for Mr. Duterte, for Filipinos and human rights defenders, it is a critical step towards recovering many counts of Duterte’s crimes against humanity that stemmed from his bloody war on drugs among other policies that fuel grave human rights abuses. The ICC investigation on Duterte’s human rights violations only covers the tip of the iceberg, as scores of high crimes including political killings remain unreported before the international court.
The ICC probe deserves the collective backing of international community and behooves independent human rights bodies to closely monitor its crucial phases from trial stages leading to Duterte’s sentence of imprisonment.
Let this be a reminder to Duterte and to those who would want to follow his trail of blood that heinous crimes rooted from grave abuse of power and misconduct will never go scot-free.
Likewise, we challenge the successor of outgoing ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to pursue the case against Duterte and ensure that he and his accomplices in this unprecedented genocide of Filipinos would be brought to accountability in the name of rendering the long-sought justice,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson and former Anakpawis Party-list Representative.
