De Lima doubts veracity of Duterte's dare to ICC

Former senator Leila de Lima raised doubts that former president Rodrigo Duterte was serious about his dare to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately start its probe into the summary killings under his drug war. 

De Lima, who came face-to-face with Duterte at the House Quad Committee on Wednesday, said this was clearly evident with the “inconsistencies” in Duterte’s statement during the course of the grueling, nearly 14-hour hearing.

“On one hand he said, he is just waiting for the ICC. He said it is very slow, it could come today. But then after that, he later said, he does not recognize [the ICC] or [it] has no jurisdiction over [the Philippines],” De Lima said the vernacular in an interview on Thursday. 

"That's his style, to deviate. So you don't know if he is serious or not," the ex-senator added. 

In his first appearance at the mega-panel following numerous no-shows, Duterte said he may just die before the ICC starts investigating the alleged crime against humanity under his war on drugs.

And so, he challenged the Hague-based court to come to the Philippines “if possible, tomorrow.” 

“They can come here anytime. You know, we're not hiding…If I am found guilty, I will go to prison and rot there for all time,” Duterte bluntly remarked.

If he had the means, Duterte, a lawyer, said he would personally go to the ICC and investigate himself.

The Philippines officially cut ties with the Rome Statute in March 2019 pursuant to Duterte’s marching orders. However, the tribunal asserted that it still retains jurisdiction over any potential crimes against humanity when the state was still party to the Statute or before its withdrawal.

The former chief executive reiterated before the quad comm that he is the sole responsible for the massive killings during his stint — whether legal or illegal — and that police must be spared from criminal liability. 

But similar to De Lima, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro expressed concern that Duterte's refusal to take accountability for the deaths of some local officials, including mayors, under his drug war stated otherwise.

"Which one is he referring to that he's taking full responsibility to all the victims of the war on drugs when he's denying accountability in these individual incidents," Luistro said in the same interview.

"There were inconsistencies. I just don't know if he did it on purpose or is it natural from his end,” she added.

At the congressional probe, Luistro, also a lawyer, warned Duterte that he may be liable for conspiracy to commit the killings by being the principal by inducement. But Duterte dissented. 

Meanwhile, Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is headstrong that the Philippines will not cooperate with the ICC as it holds no jurisdiction over the country. 

But Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin also said that the government will not object nor block Duterte if he wishes to surrender himself to the ICC.

Earlier this year, reports circulated that an arrest warrant from the ICC against Duterte is already in the works and that it had also proceeded with its probe especially now that the family of the drug war victims and its perpetrators are starting to come forward.

The government lodged more than 7,000 deaths under Duterte’s drug war, but local and international human rights organizations estimated that the death toll exceeded 30,000, affecting predominantly low-income families and communities.