MANILA, Philippines – NANANATILING gumagana pa rin ang korte sa Pilipinas at maaaring magsampa ng kaso ang mga biktima ng war on drugs laban kay dating Pangulong Rodrigo “Digong” Roa Duterte sa kabila ng ginawang pag-aresto laban sa kanya ng International Criminal Court (ICC).
“There’s no waiver yet of the right of the State to still run after him, if there are other complainants in the country,” ang sinabi ni Palace Press Officer at Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro sa press briefing.
Ani Castro, isinuko ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas si Digong Duterte sa ICC dahil sa obligasyon nito na pakinggan ang request ng International Criminal Police Organization’s (Interpol) na magpatupad ng warrant of arrest laban sa dating Pangulo.
Sinabi pa nito na “the government is merely enforcing Section 70 of Republic Act (RA) 9851, which states that “authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties.”
“It just so happened that there is a pending case before the ICC and we are just complying and enforcing RA 9851, especially Section 70… So, we have not yet waived the rights of the alleged victims in the Philippines. They can still file cases,” ang pahayag ni Castro.
“Over 6,200 drug suspects were killed in anti-narcotics operations during the Duterte administration from June 2016 to November 2021,” ayon sa government data. Sinabi naman ng Human rights groups na pumalo sa 30,000 ang bilang.
Winika pa ni Castro na wala namang masama sa naging desisyon ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas na isuko si Digong Duterte sa ICC.
Sinabi pa nito na binigyan ng due process ang dating Pangulo subalit nabigo na kumilos sa mga reklamong inihain laban sa kanya sa chamber.
“Of course, it’s still working. Pero sa pagkakataong ito, sa panahon ni dating pangulong Duterte, hindi natin alam. Kaya nga nagkaroon ng pag-file ng complaint sa ICC. Katulad nang sinabi ko, binigyan ang gobyerno ng isang taon para patunayan kung gumagana ang hustisya laban sa mga (But this time, during the time of former president Duterte, we don’t know. That’s why there was a complaint filed with the ICC. As I said, the government was given a year to prove whether justice is working against the) war on drugs,” litaniya ni Castro.
“It is regular. What the government did was regular. It is based on the law, based on our law. Based on our own RA 9851… This is the first time that we did this. So if you did everything based on the law, I think there would be no question on that,” aniya pa rin.
Samantala, nilinaw naman ni Castro na walang intensyon ang Pilipinas na makipagtulungan sa ICC, lalo pa’t ang bansa ay hindi na state party sa international court.
Muling inulit nito na paninindigan ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas na ang ICC ay walang hurisdiksyon sa Pilipinas.
At sa tanong naman kung kinokonsidera ng pamahalaan na muling sumali sa ICC, sinabi ni Castro na walang pag-uusap hinggil sa bagay na ito. Kris Jose
