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Friday, March 29, 2024

Bato, Rody not preparing to defend selves with ICC probe looming

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President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa are not preparing nor contacting good international lawyers to defend them in the pending International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on the country’s bloody drug war.

PDP-Laban presidential candidate Dela Rosa stressed Wednesday there are no ongoing efforts to prepare for the ICC investigation, and he and the President do not particularly discuss it.

“I will just ensure that I come with a clean heart and conscience,” said Dela Rosa, the standard bearer of the Cusi faction of the ruling PDP-Laban.

Dela Rosa alongside Duterte face charges for alleged crimes against humanity over the alleged rampant human rights violations and extra-judicial killings in the implementation of the country’s fight against illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa is upbeat on a better condition of the country if he becomes the President and Duterte becomes Senate President, should the latter decide to run for a seat in the Upper Chamber.

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With good teamwork between the Executive and Legislative departments, Dela Rosa said the country is geared towards one direction in nation building.

He said the national interest instead of personal interests would prevail.

If he wins the presidency, the former chief of the Philippine National Police said he will not allow the ICC to conduct its investigation in the Philippines, not only to protect the President, but himself from the charges. He said this would be a slap to our judicial system which is in place.

He said ICC prosecutors can go to the Philippines, but only to observe for themselves how our justice system is working.

He assailed as false the reports reaching the ICC that 30,000 persons were killed in the state-sponsored brutal killings.

“There is no truth to these reports. They’re biased towards us,” said Dela Rosa, adding that the number could have included those who died from Covid and heart diseases.

If he becomes the President, Dela Rosa committed to continue this war as their hearts are bleeding for the victims of the illicit drug operations.

A way to improve, he noted that it will be mandatory that law enforcers who will go on a drug operation should be equipped with body cameras.

Still, he can’t say if these operations would remain bloody. He said this would depend on the resistance coming from the drug suspects.

“There will also be no squabbles. Rifts would be avoided,” said Dela Rosa, who said he will help their party convince Duterte to join the senatorial race in the upcoming elections.

He said many of their senatorial aspirants, whom he did not name, have signified their desire to give way to Duterte in case he decides to run for senator.

Dela Rosa said he supports this initiative of persuading the President to join the senatorial run. In case he wins, Dela Rosa sees Duterte as being elected Senate President.

“Considering that the choice of SP is a numbers game, we will prevail,” said Dela Rosa as he spelled out their allies in the Upper which can easily reach 13 required votes.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the faction president, said they are still encouraging Duterte to seek a senate seat after he backed out from running for vice president.

While their critics see the Cusi faction enticing Duterte to vie for a Senate seat a “desperate act,” Dela Rosa said this is an act of “patriotism” on the part of the President in case he decides to continue his service to the country and the Filipino people.

Dela Rosa’s running mate, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, confirmed that Duterte is still considering running for a Senate seat in 2022.

Go assured that if elected, Duterte will continue to prioritize their welfare by helping and serving more Filipinos in need.

“He is considering, he is thoroughly studying it. If it can help the country, he might. He is considering running,” related Go.

According to Go, Duterte is contemplating on several factors before deciding whether or not to run, including his party’s, PDP-Laban, senatorial slate.

“Duterte is open to run if it will help administration candidates win,” said the senator.

Meanwhile, Go said that although President Duterte is more than qualified to be Senate President if elected as senator, it is too early to discuss such possibilities especially since the Senate leadership is decided upon by a collegial body.

Furthermore, Go also confirmed that PDP-Laban officials would meet before November 15 to finalize their candidates for the forthcoming elections.

He also stated that he has made up his mind on running for vice president.

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