Hontiveros: VP Sara ‘perfectly capable of weakening herself’ in politics

Vice President Sara Duterte is “perfectly capable of weakening herself” in politics, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said Wednesday.

The lawmaker made the remark when asked if the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation is being used to weaken the political capital of the Vice President, whose father—former President Rodrigo Duterte—is the main subject of the international tribunal’s investigation.

“She's perfectly capable of weakening herself politically on her own. Palagay ko ginagawa na niya yan sa sarili niya at this point in time (I think she is already doing it to herself at this point in time),” Hontiveros said in an ANC interview.

GMA News Online sought Vice President Sara Duterte’s comment on Hontiveros’ remarks but she has yet to respond as of posting time.

Asked if the ICC issue would benefit President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Hontiveros said this would help the President because the Filipino people have been asking for the international court’s intervention in seeking justice for the victims of the drug war.

“It will benefit him as President of all of the Filipino people kasi dumadami sa atin ang nanawagan yan (because more people are calling for the investigation in) the past six, seven years since Duterte withdrew us from there,” she said.

‘More than politics’

But Hontiveros reiterated that the issue of the ICC investigation is “more than politics” as it is about justice and accountability of the government on the alleged extrajudicial killings.

On Tuesday, Hontiveros filed a resolution urging the Marcos administration to cooperate with the ICC’s investigation into the previous administration’s drug war.

The resolution came a week after a similar call was made in the House of Representatives and after Marcos said that returning under the fold of the ICC is “under study.”

The ICC Appeals Chamber had denied the Philippine government’s appeal to stop the ICC probe on the drug war because the Philippines failed to prove to the ICC that a legitimate investigation on the drug war killings and the prosecution of the perpetrators were being undertaken by Philippine authorities.

The ICC Prosecutor Pre-Trial chamber earlier observed, as regards to the drug war, that “the available material indicates, to the required standard, that a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2)(a) of the Statute.”

Statistics vary depending on sources but according to Human Rights Watch, Duterte’s “war on drugs” resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 Filipinos, mostly from the urban poor. Authorities have maintained that the deaths related to the anti-drug campaign is around 6,000. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA Integrated News