MANILA, Philippines — If he would be made to answer for the thousands of deaths in his drug war, former president Rodrigo Duterte said this should be done before a “special court” in the country.
Duterte made the pronouncement at last Wednesday’s hearing by the quad committee of the House of Representatives on extrajudicial killings and the drug war during his term.
He said he disliked “white people” – apparently referring to prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court, and would want to be tried for his alleged crimes by “a Philippine court as a Filipino.” ICC judges and prosecutors belong to diverse nationalities.
“I don’t believe in whites. I would rather face a Filipino court. Even if I will not have a lawyer. Just me. And (the judge) can sentence me to death or reclusion perpetua. For as long as it is a Filipino court, I will abide by it,” Duterte said.
“I will not allow a foreigner to judge me for the things that I have to do during my time as president of this republic,” he added.
He asked the quad comm to create a “special court” that would try him.
“They don’t deserve to be Filipinos residing here. They are better off where they think the courts are good for them,” Duterte said, referring to critics and those who filed a case against him before the ICC.
Duterte said he would not surrender to foreign courts.
“I will not allow myself to be taken and be placed under the jurisdiction of any court. I am a Filipino. I will die a Filipino,” Duterte said.
“I will be jailed as a Filipino. For a competent judge, a competent prosecutor – and I have the defense counsel, like the one on my side and those at the back, they are all good – I know that I will be acquitted,” Duterte said, pointing to his lawyers, including his former chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea and his current legal counsel Martin Delgra.
Ready for ICC
In an interview after the hearing, Duterte said he is ready in case the country rejoins the ICC, which is investigating his possible culpability for crimes against humanity in his bloody drug war.
“Anytime. I am a lawyer, so I know what to do,” Duterte said yesterday when asked about the possibility of President Marcos restoring the country’s membership in the ICC.
Duterte earlier challenged the ICC to start investigating allegations that he ordered the summary killing of thousands of drug suspects when he was Davao City mayor and later as president.
“It’s been too long, 10 years in the making. When will it end?” Duterte said, referring to the ICC probe.
President Marcos may be impeached
In a separate interview with The STAR, Panelo said that Marcos may face impeachment if he allows the members of the ICC to investigate the alleged crimes of Duterte during his war on drugs.
“I’ve been praising President Marcos for continuing the foreign policy that ICC has no jurisdiction as he cannot reverse himself, you know why? Under the Constitution, his job is to protect the country, the people, the government and one of those is to protect sovereignty. If he reverses himself and allows ICC to come here and cooperate with the ICC, he will be surrendering sovereignty, which means he will be betraying public trust, which is an impeachable ground,” Panelo said.
He said there would be no changes even if the country rejoins the ICC.
“He (Marcos) can be removed from office, whether legally or extra-legally,” he said, as he called the ICC “a nonsense, useless entity.”
“Look at the warrant of arrest they issued against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, years have passed but nothing happened. (The ICC) has no jurisdiction whether based on our laws and our Constitution,” Panelo pointed out. He added that the Rome Statute that established the ICC was not published in the Philippines. “According to our laws, unless a law is published, it will not be enforced,” he added.
‘Palace behind Trillanes’
In an interview on Facebook Live with Panelo, Duterte also accused Malacañang of using former senator Antonio Trillanes IV to discredit him and his family with allegations that they were keeping illegally acquired funds in secret bank accounts.
Duterte also vowed to sue Trillanes for libel for alleging that P2.4 billion had been deposited in a joint bank account of the former chief executive and his daughter, now Vice President Sara Duterte from 2011 to 2015.
“Trillanes is a Malacañang sponsor. He will not act (on his own) as he has no money. That’s why I was surprised since I did not do anything. I did not attack the President but I know Trillanes is working for President Marcos,” Duterte told Panelo.
The former senator renewed his challenge to Duterte to sign a waiver for the opening of his bank accounts during last Wednesday’s hearing on extrajudicial killings and the drug war by the quad committee of the House of Representatives.
Trillanes told the quad comm that Duterte’s 2016 campaign contributor, Sammy Uy, deposited P120 million in the bank accounts of Duterte family members.
“I have to file libel cases against him… If that (bank account) is true, I will ask my daughter to resign as Vice President and my son as mayor (of Davao City), if that is true. In my case, I have no position (in the government),” Duterte added.
He also said Trillanes should prove his accusations in courts. “Prove that in courts…. Even the names (of my family) were wrongly spelled. There was a missing ‘n’ in Honeylet and missing ‘u’ for Paolo,” Duterte noted, referring to his partner, Honeylet Avanceña, and son, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte.
“I just want the truth to come out, especially Inday is still in politics, including Pulong, and Baste, especially Inday is in national (position),” he added, referring to his children by their nicknames.
“Somebody should teach Trillanes a lesson in life,” he said. “He was used to coup d’etat. He was an expert in discrediting people. He gets away with it. It is about time he should be taught as his enemy is the truth. His summary was pure figures. It is the bank who would tell if there are (accounts) or none. The public should know the truth and what is not,” he added.
“If it is true, just one, I will hang myself in front of you. You can summon, I will sign the waiver, all banks, including America’s World Bank. Even a small truth, I will resign and I will ask my daughter to resign and everybody in the family. That is my guarantee and I will hang myself,” he said.
“Even (if) it is the truth, there is (the bank) secrecy law,” he added. The former president also said he would push for his bid for the Davao City mayoralty post.
“I am already old. I am retired. I want to take a rest… but I will be forced to run again as a mayor as when the time comes, if they win or lose, we will meet in politics and we will see what lies ahead in the future,” Duterte pointed out. The former president is 79 years old.
He also said he was able to endure the more than 12 hours of the quad comm hearing, as he is a night person.
“I did not expect that at my age, I can still travel… that’s my advantage, I am a night person,” he said.
Meanwhile, Panelo claimed Duterte had already signed a waiver in 2016. “It was not released since it was a joint account, but it only contained P15-P16,000,” he said. — Bella Cariaso