Hontiveros: Duterte should ‘stop acting like a Marcos copycat’

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday denounced President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to have International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators arrested, saying that he should stop acting like a "copycat" of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In a statement, Hontiveros asked why ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda should be arrested.

"Why, is she accused and guilty of high crimes? Is she involved in the systemic and large-scale killing of people? Did she made numerous public statements in favor of extrajudicial killings? Did she influence and command state security forces to inflict unjust and extreme violence against the public? Did she shield extrajudicial killers from calls of justice and accountability?" she said.

"As far as I know, it is President Rodrigo Duterte and his cohorts who are charged before the ICC with crimes against humanity," she added.

At a press briefing on Friday, Duterte maintained that the ICC had no jurisdiction on the communication filed by lawyer Jude Sabio against him in April last year.

He said the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, is not enforceable in the Philippines as it was not published in the government's publication or commercial newspaper.

“Kaya ikaw Ms. Fatou, ‘wag kang pumunta dito because I will bar you. Not because I am afraid of you, I said, because you will never have jurisdiction over my person, not in a million years,” Duterte said.

“But what is your authority now? If we are not members of the treaty, why are you f____ in this country? You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal and I will arrest you,” he added.

The ICC is currently determining whether it has jurisdiction to probe allegations against Duterte of state-sanctioned killings in his war on drugs.

"It would be good for President Duterte to stop making outrageous statements in an attempt to deflect the serious charges lodged against him and discredit the ICC," Hontiveros said.

She added that Duterte is only making himself look more guilty in the public eye by saying such things.

"If the President thinks he is innocent of the accusations, then there is nothing to fear," she said.

The senator also added that Duterte has no authority to have anyone arrested, as the Constitution grants that power only to court judges.

"The President has no power to issue 'Executive warrants.' They ceased to exist when we toppled the Marcos dictatorship," Hontiveros said.

"President Duterte should stop throwing due process into disarray and acting like a Marcos copycat," she added.

Senator Richard Gordon, on the other hand, said that it is the right of the President to protect the country against foreign entities who try to destabilize it.

"As far as the President is concerned, he has the right to protect the country. Kapag ang mga ito ay gagawa lang ng hindi mabuti, dine-destabilize ang bayan natin, he has that right," he said. — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News