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De Lima on ICC case: Duterte must be held accountable for ‘horrific crimes’


Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday welcomed the filing of a criminal complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying he should be held “accountable for the horrific crimes” committed since he took office. 

“Far from what others claim, the complaint is not black propaganda or a political ploy to oust the President,” De Lima said in a statement. 

“Instead, it is a formal complaint lodged before the ICC because the Filipino people have already been alarmed, to say the least, about the continued daily killings in the Philippines.  It is about making our elected officials accountable for the horrific crimes being committed before the eyes of the Filipino people and the world,” she added. 

The complaint was filed by Atty. Jude Sabio, lawyer of confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, who accused Duterte of instructing the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) to kill drug offenders and other suspected criminals in Davao City when the chief executive was still mayor. 

It was De Lima who presented Matobato as witness to the Senate justice committee, in her capacity as chairperson then, when the panel launched an investigation on the rampant drug-related killings. 

De Lima had also repeatedly called for the intervention of the ICC amid the administration’s bloody war on drugs. 

“I call on the honourable judges of the ICC to heed the Filipino people’s pleas,” she said on Tuesday. 

“These killings must stop now, and those who allowed the perpetration of these crimes against humanity must be investigated and tried in the world’s court for the sake of the thousands of victims of extrajudicial and summary killings, and their widows and orphaned children,” the senator added. 

De Lima said the 77-page communication to the ICC was based on verified documentary and testimonial evidence from witnesses who risked their lives to tell the truth. 

The office of ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda earlier confirmed receiving the complaint filed by Sabio. 

Bensouda's office confirmed to AFP it had "received a communication earlier this morning by an attorney from the Philippines," adding it would "analyze the materials submitted, as appropriate" in line with the tribunal's guiding Rome Statute and make its decision later.

Sabio accused Duterte of crimes against humanity over the alleged killings perpetrated by the so-called DDS and the current administration’s war on drugs. 

Also charged before the ICC are 11 government officials and close allies of the President. These include PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Richard Gordon, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Solictor General Jose Calida, and National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran. —KG, GMA News

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