Duterte clarifies to Beijing: PH gov’t nothing to do with ICC suit vs. Xi

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte poses for posterity with Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, who paid a courtesy call on the President at Matina Enclaves in Davao City on March 27, 2019. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte clarified to China that his administration has no involvement in the recent filing of a complaint by ex-government officials against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In its statement released on Thursday, March 28, the Palace said Duterte told this to Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), whom the President met at the Matina Enclaves in Davao City on Wednesday along with other Chinese delegates.

Malacañang, however, said Duterte made it clear to the Chinese official that the Philippines is a democratic country and therefore “cannot stop the people from just filing cases.”

It did not disclose what was Song’s reaction to the Chief Executive’s remarks, but the Palace said the two officials discussed “issues that would further strengthen the relationship” of Philippines and China, as well as “matters of interest, especially on the subject of the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea.”

The case against Xi and other Chinese officials was filed by former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales for alleged crimes committed against humanity over Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea. It was filed on March 15, just two days before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC took effect.

In their complaint, Del Rosario and Morales said the Chinese President and other Chinese officials committed crimes when they implemented “China’s systematic plan to control the South China Sea” which led to the “most massive, near permanent and devastating destruction of the environment in humanity’s history.”

“It adversely affects and injures not only myriad groups of vulnerable fishermen, including 320,000 Filipino fishermen, but also present and future generations of people across nations. This has seriously undermined the food and energy security of the coastal States in the South China Sea, including the Philippines,” it read.

Charge’ d’Affaires Tan Qinsheng of the Chinese embassy in Manila earlier said that Morales and Del Rosario’s complaint “will in no way stop the development of bilateral relations” between Manila and Beijing, adding that the move of the former government officials did not represent the view of the Philippine government and the Filipino people.