House silencing Dutertes? VP Sara leaves it to people to ‘analyze’ situation

Vice President Sara Duterte said Tuesday it is up to the public to “analyze” if the House of Representatives is prioritizing the resolutions urging the Marcos administration to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on its probe on her father’s war on drugs when he was president. 

“Iwan na lang namin ‘yan sa mga tao ‘no na i-analyze. I do not want to speculate sa mga motives ng House of Representatives,” she said in an ambush interview when asked if the timing of the House resolution was done in time to silence the Dutertes, specifically outspoken former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

(We'll just leave that for the people to analyze. I do not want to speculate on the motives of the House of Representatives.)

In October, Makabayan bloc lawmakers filed a House resolution urging the Marcos administration to cooperate with the ICC investigation on the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the administration of then President Duterte's anti-drug campaign. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recorded 6,201 deaths during anti-illegal drug operations between July 2016 to September 2021.Human rights groups claim the number of fatalities is much higher.
 

A similar resolution was filed by House Committee on Human Rights chairperson Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. of Manila just this November.
 

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Thursday refuted “speculations” that the House of Representatives is prioritizing these resolutions, saying that its members “have to look at it one at a time and within the … context of the current events and that's where we leave it. ”

Suspicious?
 

The vice president also reacted to the statement made by Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa that the filing of the House Resolution is "suspicious", given it was filed amid an apparent disagreement between her and Romualdez over the House’s decision to strip the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) of its proposed P650 million confidential fund in the 2024 national budget.

“Well, hindi ko kasi alam. Hindi pa kami nakakapag usap ni Senator Bato dela Rosa. Pero ‘yung sa amin lang, sa side ko, we will just post parang legal points doon sa ICC na issue,” the Vice President said.

(Well, I don't know yet. Senator Bato dela Rosa and I have not yet talked. But from my side, we will just post the legal points on the ICC issue.)
 

The vice president on Monday said her camp will urge the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the Philippines should not cooperate with the ICC investigation.

She made the remark days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that returning to the fold of the ICC was "under study."

 “We all should respect the position of the President being the chief architect of foreign policy. ‘Yun lahat ang dapat na position nating lahat [that should be everyone’s position],” Duterte said Monday.—RF, GMA Integrated News