DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte said that the Marawi residents who are planning to file charges against him are free to bring their grievances to the local courts or the International Criminal Court.
“It’s well within their rights to do that… and if they think that the Philippine courts would be prejudiced or biased, they can always go to the International Criminal Court,” he said.
Duterte took full responsibility for his decision to declare martial law over the entire island of Mindanao after Maute group terrorists overran Marawi City on May 23.
“I hold myself solely responsible for what happened, including… the incidents there, the events that transpired,” he said.
Earlier this month, two groups of residents from Marawi said that they planned to file a class action suit against the government for the devastation caused by the five-month war against the terrorist group.
Suara Bangsamoro and Tindeg Ranao said in a joint statement that Duterte should be made accountable for the devastation that the war caused in Marawi.
One of the bases for the class suit will be the alleged violations committed by the soldiers during the siege.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, a lawyer, said the suit would have no chance.
“The case will probably be dismissed. In the first place, in the history of the Philippines there was no class suit that was brought to the court. Our justice system is not inclined to rule on a class suit,” Roque said.
He said that the President should be commended and awarded for restoring peace and order in Marawi instead of being sued.
“If anything, what the President has proven in Marawi is that he has the political will to enforce the law, and he will not hesitate to use all resources available to the state to restore peace and order,” he said.
Newly appointed Health Secretary Francisco Duque said their current priority program is to help rebuild the war-torn Marawi City following its liberation from the Maute terrorists.
“We have to make sure that we can address the health needs of the people there, especially the damaged health delivery infrastructure,” said Duque.
The rehabilitation of Marawi City, Duque said, was one of Duterte’s standing orders when he was tapped to go back to the Department of Health. With Macon Ramos-Araneta