Palace on NUPL’s vow to sue Duterte in 2022: It’s a free country

Any person can file criminal charges against President Rodrigo Duterte once he steps down and loses his immunity from suit in 2022, Malacañang said Monday, after a group of lawyers vowed to sue him over alleged human rights abuses during his term.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) vowed over the weekend to pursue charges against Duterte and state security forces who allegedly committed extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

“It’s a free country,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

“Everyone is entitled to file any case against whom so they think that has violated the law and let the courts decide the validity of such complaints.”

Asked if NUPL’s plan was a cause for concern, Panelo said: “The only worry that the President has is the sufferings of the people that’s why he does a lot of things to make lives comfortable for them.”

Duterte’s popular campaign against illegal drugs has claimed the lives of 5,526 drug personalities in police operations around the country since he assumed office in 2016, according to official data.

However, local and international human rights groups believed the body count could be higher than the official figures.

Duterte is currently facing two communications in connection with the drug war before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which opened in February last year a preliminary examination to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the matter and a full-blown investigation would serve the interests of justice and of the victims.

The President responded by withdrawing the Philippines’ ICC membership, a move that was challenged by opposition senators before the Supreme Court. —VDS, GMA News