NY Times editorial: Duterte should be held accountable

MANILA, Philippines - The New York Times has called on the international community to revoke Philippine trade privileges in a bid to hold President Duterte accountable for his alleged support of the killings under his war on drugs.

In an editorial last weekend titled “Accountability for Duterte,” the influential newspaper lauded the European Union for threatening economic sanctions in the light of the unabated killings, possible reinstatement of the death penalty and the lowering of the criminal age of prosecution to nine.

“The EU has proposed hitting his government where it may hurt the most – by imposing tariffs on Philippine goods. Other democratic trading partners should do the same,” the editorial read.

Noting that the Philippine leader “relishes his image as a defiant crusader,” the newspaper said Duterte had practically encouraged “the slaughter of thousands in the name of saving his nation from the scourge of drugs.”

The New York Times also said that while Duterte “is impervious to moral criticism… he may not be immune forever from legal action.”

It mentioned an impeachment complaint filed the other week against Duterte, accusing him of corruption, murder and crimes against humanity in connection with his bloody anti-drug campaign.

The Times acknowledged that Duterte has little chance of being impeached with his overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives, but that exhausting domestic remedies could clear the way for bringing the case before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

“Ever defiant, Mr. Duterte said on Sunday that he welcomed a trial by the court, and vowed his drug war ‘will continue and it will be brutal’,” the editorial read.

The newspaper said it was unlikely Duterte “will maintain such an obliging attitude toward prosecution, given his attitude toward his critics at home.”

It mentioned the President’s chief critic, Sen. Leila de Lima, who was arrested last month for what it described as “spurious charges” that she took bribes from drug traffickers.

“Ms. De Lima, who is still in custody, should be released immediately and all politically motivated charges against her dropped,” the paper said.

It said the EU’s threat was one of consequence, and that the United Nations Human Rights Council should meanwhile initiate a thorough, independent investigation into the killings under Duterte’s administration.

More than 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers, witnesses and bystanders – including children – have been killed by the police or vigilantes in the Philippines since Duterte took office on the last day of June last year.

Meanwhile, members of the European Parliament called for the immediate release of De Lima and for the European Union to support the establishment of an independent international investigation on the unlawful killings in the Philippine war on drugs.

At least seven motions filed by political groups in Parliament were consolidated into a single resolution dated March 15, 2017.

They urged the EU to use all available instruments to persuade the Philippines to put an end to extrajudicial killings related to the anti-drug campaign and to support investigations and prosecute all perpetrators.

The EU was urged to put pressure on the Philippines by considering its removal from the Generalized System of Preference Plus (GSP+), a program where additional trade incentives are granted to developing countries.