PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said that he will not listen with whatever the international courts will say even if cases are filed against him for allegedly being a “mass murderer” because of his bloody war on drugs.
In a speech at Clark, Pampanga, Duterte said that he will not listen to his critics just to make good on his promise to rid the country of illegal drugs.
“Give me a little bit of time,” the President said. “I will finish it to the last mile. I do not care what the other people say. I do not give a shit what the international court of justice [will say],” Duterte said, possibly referring to the International Criminal Court.
“For at the end of the day, if my country collapses to the wake of drugs, you will not be here to help the Filipino,” he added.
He also said the drug war will be a policy of his “until the dying days” of his administration.
“Leave us alone, we will solve our own problem. We do not enjoy killing. It is not a good policy but we are besieged [by] something which is very terrible,” Duterte told his critics.
On Tuesday, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines might withdraw from the International Criminal Court if it continues to meddle in the country’s domestic affairs.
Roque insisted that state parties should agree to the principle of complementarity “that the court will only exercise jurisdiction if our courts are unwilling or unable to exercise jurisdiction on any crime recognizable by the International Criminal Court” or Manila will consider its withdrawal from the ICC.
“To violate the principle of complementarity would be to violate the very basis of our consent to be bound by the Rome Statute and if this will happen, then there may be a possibility that the Philippines, like the three other African states, may withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC,” he said.
Roque, who is currently in New York, will be attending the Assembly of State Parties, the ICC’s management oversight and legislative body composed of representatives of the states, which have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute.Thousands of people have been killed by police since Duterte took office in June 2016, yet not a single police officer has been held to account for any of the crimes committed.
Recently, Duterte issued a memorandum allowing the Philippine National Police to participate anew in the government’s war against illegal drugs, almost two months after barring the police from participating in it due to a string of controversies.
In April, a criminal case was filed against Duterte by lawyer Jude Sabio, the counsel of self-confessed hired gun Edgar Matobato before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, alleging that the then Davao mayor of ordering killings of more than 1,400 suspected criminals through the Davao Death Squads—without respect for due process of law.
The international court receives complaints on crimes usually said to be committed by leaders of nations that have signed the Rome Statute.