Dispatch from Crame No. 1104:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the SC Decision on the ICC Withdrawal

7/22/21

The decision of the Supreme Court on the unilateral withdrawal of Duterte from the Rome Statute is yet another reminder of how Duterte abused the Office of the President by bending our foreign policy, albeit unsuccessfully, solely for his personal benefit.

Ano pa nga ba ang dahilan ng pag-alis ni Duterte mula sa Rome Statute/ICC kundi para iwasan ang mga napipintong kaso laban sa kaniya at sa polisiya niya ng malawakang pagpatay sa ilalim ng kaniyang War on Drugs?

I take comfort in the fact that the Supreme Court echoed the pronouncement of the former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda when it declared that our withdrawal from the Rome Statute did not operate to discharge our country from obligations incurred while we were still a state party.

Ibig sabihin, mananagot at mananagot pa rin si Duterte sa mga kasalanang naganap bago opisyal na nakaalis ang Pilipinas sa ICC noong March 17, 2019.

The decision likewise implied that the Rome Statute was in full effect prior to our withdrawal. This means that Duterte's two-bit theory that the Rome Statute was ineffectual due to lack of publication does not hold water.

Bottomline is that Duterte's own Supreme Court maintains that he is still covered by, and proceeded against, under the Rome Statute in spite of his unilateral withdrawal of our country therefrom. Duterte should stop playing politics, exhibiting pathetic defiance, and instead start consulting with his lawyers and face the charges against him. Pangatawanan niya ang kaniyang madugong War on Drugs na kumitil ng maraming buhay. Harapin niya ang kaniyang kaso upang mabigyan ng hustisya ang libu-libong mga Filipino na naging biktima ng EJK. ###

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1104)