Local litigation vs. Duterte? ‘Touch grass,’ say victims’ advocates

“Touch grass.” 

That’s what Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay told lawmakers who said that litigation against former president Rodrigo Duterte should be held in Philippine courts instead of at the International Criminal Court.

“How long can you tolerate a justice system that has long failed the victims? It’s not an issue of forum shopping. It's about finding ways to hold people accountable, precisely because no one has been put in jail because of these crimes,” she said in a press conference of the Duterte Panagutin Network in The Hague, The Netherlands on Sunday, a day before the start of the confirmation of charges against Duterte at the ICC this week. 

The Senate minority bloc, which includes Duterte allies, last week filed a resolution seeking to express the sense of the chamber to allow Filipinos accused of crimes abroad to avail first of legal remedies from Philippine courts before they are surrendered.

Senate Resolution 307 seeks to protect Filipinos against extraordinary rendition and guarantee them a reasonable time prior to their surrender by or extradition from the Philippines to seek redress from the courts and avail of legal remedies possible.

The resolution was filed after the ICC Office of the Prosecutor identified Senators Bong Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as Duterte's alleged co-perpetrators. They both signed the resolution.

Senator Bam Aquino, a member of the majority, also said that drug war cases should "ideally" be tried in Philippine courts rather than before an international tribunal, because the victims are in the Philippines. However, he added that he respects the ongoing process at the ICC.

The four-day confirmation of charges hearing at the ICC will begin on Monday, February 23. The subsequent hearings will be on Feb. 24 (Tuesday), 26 (Thursday), and 27 (Friday). 

According to the ICC website, the hearings will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time time (5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Philippines time), before the Pre-Trial Chamber I in Courtroom I, where the Prosecution, the Defense, and the victims’ lawyers will explain their arguments to the judges.

'Ironic'

The victims' camp also reacted to the Duterte defense team's request to deny the appointment of some of the lawyers representing the drug war victims, which Palabay described as an "obstructionist" move.

Meanwhile, ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said that there was an offer of police protection for lawyers of the victims. However, she said this was “quite ironic.” 

“There was an offer from the Philippine government for police protection, but it was quite ironic that the same police who allegedly committed the extrajudicial killings were now tasked to protect the families,” she said. — BM, GMA Integrated News