Ric Maulion .
THE International Criminal Court could make President Duterte answer for the loss of over a thousand lives during his reign as mayor of Davao. With the ICC coming into the picture, gone now is the kind of bravado displayed earlier by The Butcher and the 12 cohorts. Given the prospects of a trial, it’s no wonder how the principal is hallucinating lately and mobilizing his blind rabid loyalists against the ICC.
It’s funny how his minions have been moving heaven and earth for their make-believe world to assuage their principal, and to salvage whatever persuasion is left against lawyer Jude Sabio’s case in The Hague. It looks like the principal and his cohorts would have their day in court.
There’s Solicitor General Jose Calida who wants Sabio disbarred.
The “crying baby,” Gen. Bato dela Rosa, challenged any plan to launch a coup d’état against the popular President like popularity can be invoked if the ICC subjects Duterte to trial. It is irrelevant and immaterial. Let Duterte prove his innocence.
There’s Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who said Sabio’s case is good material for the mental hospital and presidential spokesman Harry Roque who gave the assurance that his President would face any investigation as his client has been tired anyway of repeatedly being accused as a mass murderer. Good grief, Charlie Brown!
These are bad excuses, and showed they are not doing their homework on the implications of the “Davao Death Squad” and the “war on drugs.”
The Philippines is a signatory to the Rome Statute. How about delisting the country as a member? Problem is, you cannot just waive your membership that easily. You have to wait at least a year before the ICC could decide and act on that “request.”
“The Punisher” could end up receiving punishment himself instead.
The legal battle is undoubtedly an uphill climb. But Sabio is undaunted. “The fight will continue until the desired result is achieved,” he told me.
And what’s Sabio’s “desirable outcome”? According to the lawyer, that would be, “Bringing Duterte from home to The Hague, Netherlands, until justice is served.”
Will the ICC put an end to this impunity?
We have seen the rollercoaster ride in the Senate that conducted an inquiry in aid of legislation (kuno). But just look at how the Senate hearing was conducted.
Whatever happened to star witnesses Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed DDS hitman, and Arturo Lascanas? They took turns in revealing their involvement in the DDS and the killings in Davao. Unfortunately, their revelations fell on deaf ears. What can you expect from a hearing that was programmed to exonerate the principal from the very start?
We are seeing ripple effects that prompted Duterte and his partners to go on defensive mode. This could be karma!
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