Fariñas: Alejano can’t turn to ICC after junking of impeach bid

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas on Wednesday taunted the plan of Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano to elevate his complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC), after a House panel dismissed his impeachment rap.

Fariñas underscored that ICC deals with criminal offenses, which should have first reached local criminal courts.

He said Alejano’s failed impeachment bid against the President does not meet this requirement.

“[T]hey have to understand na ang ICC is a criminal court. Criminal court ‘yan. Kailangan ‘yung ating criminal courts have not acted or refuse to act on the crimes committed by the person—crimes against humanity or war crimes,” he said. “Eh ‘yung impeachment hindi naman criminal act ‘yun[g nire-resolve no’n]. It’s an administrative action to remove the President from office.”

“Maliwanag ‘yun, ‘di ba? They will have to charge Rodrigo Duterte for criminal offenses. So ano ‘yan? Wala namang genocide, wala namang war crime. Ang kanila, crimes against humanity. I-charge nila ‘yan … i-charge nila ‘yan sa korte,” he added.

“Halimbawa, ‘yung isang diktador diyan, dami na niyang genocide, dami na niyang pinapapatay. Siyempre walang umaaksyon dahil dictator nga, eh. ‘Eto ‘yung puwede kang pumunta sa ICC, dahil meron siyang mga biktima, katulad ng sa Bosnia, mga ganu’n. Dito naman napakalayo ng sitwasyon dito. Pero alam mo na propagandist itong mga ito, eh,” he went on.

Fariñas said he may recommend that Alejano be slapped with an ethics complaint if the latter pursues this, though he noted that the final say on the matter will fall upon Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte’s top ally in the House.

He said the former mutineer’s moves seem to follow a “strategy” for their “propaganda” against the President.

He pointed not only to the timing of the filing, but also to references to “crimes against humanity” in the impeachment complaint, which is rooted, among other things, on the spate of killings during Duterte’s stint as Davao City mayor and under his presidency.

“Tingnan ninyo. Ba’t niya minadaling i-file ito nu’ng March 16? Ba’t mo ifa-file ‘yun eh naka-adjourn kami, ‘di ba? So minadaling finile kasi meron rin yata silang move na mag-file sa ICC during the break,” the majority leader said.

Fariñas also hit back at officials, including Alejano’s allies Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Sen. Antonio Trillanes, who had scored him for scrutinizing the lawmaker’s “lack of personal knowledge” in the allegations.

He noted that under the Constitution, an impeachment complaint must be verified, which includes swearing under oath that the material allegations therein are “true and correct of his personal knowledge or based on authentic records.”

He pointed out anew that Alejano based his complaint on statements of self-confessed Davao Death Squad members Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, and records from Trillanes.

“[D]apat si Representative Alejano kung ayon sa kanya at nabasa naman natin at let the document speak for itself sabi nga ng mga abogado. First (inaudible) I’m looking up sinasabi niya according to Matobato, according to Lascañas, si Matobato o si Lascañas sana or as filed by records of Senator Trillanes. Sila Senator Trillanes sana ang complainant and then pwede niyang i-endorse. Pag in-endorse niya yun, hindi niya na kailangan i-verify,” he said.

“‘Pag sa mga [impeachable officials], napakahirap po ng procedure. Kaya nga hindi puwedeng paimbestigahan ‘yan kung hindi sa House of Representatives lamang ang puwedeng mag-initiate ng impeachment proceedings at very rigid po ang procedure, para hindi sila maabala. So anyone who wants to avail of the impeachment as a remedy should comply with the rules,” he added. — BAP, GMA News