Hontiveros: Del Rosario, Morales did what Duterte is unwilling to do

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday lauded former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert deL Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Morales for doing what President Rodrigo Duterte won't  and can't imagine doing.

In a statement, Hontiveros said, "Duterte's job is to safeguard and protect Philippine sovereignty and us Filipinos against China."

But it was Del Rosario and Morales who dared to file before the International Criminal Court a communication against China's Xi Jinping for Beijing's excesses in the West Philippine Sea.

"I would like to thank former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for accomplishing what President Rodrigo Duterte is unwilling and unable to undertake," the senator said.

"In filing a case against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the ICC regarding China's incursions in the West Philippine Sea, the complainants provided us with a powerful template of courage as we continue to assert our sovereignty," she added.

Likewise, Hontiveros said, Del Rosario and Morales "clearly underscored the difference that can be made by standing up against foreign aggression instead of pursuing Duterte's hollow and treacherous foreign policy."

She also praised Morales, being a woman, for challenging the "the culture of sexism and misogyny promoted by no less than the President," and that "her name in the complaint signifies women's strong and progressive leadership and proves that a woman of principles can do the job a toxic macho can't."

Last Saturday, detained opposition Senator Leila de Lima lauded the move of Del Rosario and Morales for leading the filing of a communication against Xi.

In a dispatch, De Lima praised as "remarkable move" the filing of communication before ICC for the abuses against Filipino fishermen in the disputed sea.

But Malacañang said the filing of a complaint "may be a futile exercise."

"The ICC has no jurisdiction over China," presidential spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a statement. —LBG, GMA News