Duterte hits ICC anew: ‘Drug war is my campaign promise’

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malacañan Palace on December 28, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night lambasted the International Criminal Court (ICC) anew for wanting to investigate his administration’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

In a taped speech, Duterte defended the anti-illegal drugs campaign, saying he was elected precisely to eliminate the narcotics trade as part of his campaign promise.

“I did what I am bound to do.

That’s my election promise. Pag ‘yan ang suwerte inabutan ko (If that’s my fate), so be it. ‘Yun na ‘yun (That’s it),” he said.

Duterte explained that his drug campaign was meant to protect the people from drug lords and coddlers whose illicit trade has caused dysfunctional families.

“Yung (The) human rights, I said do not destroy my country. And if you destroy the youth of my land, you are destroying my country so that I will kill you,” he said.

Duterte, meanwhile, questioned the global body for interfering in other countries’ affairs.

“In the first place, why are you interfering in the affairs of my country and other countries?

And who gave you the authority? By what divine law gave you the authority to prosecute me in a foreign land tapos ang nakaupo puro kayong mga puti na ulol (and then all of you seated there are white people who are crazy),” he said.

According to the President, the ICC has no jurisdiction over him since the country’s courts are functioning.

“We have the courts here are functioning and if the courts say I will go to jail, I will go to jail. Walang problema ‘yan (That’s not a problem),” he said.

Last December 16, Duterte said he is not afraid of suffering the consequences of his drug war, insisting that it is being done for the greater good.

“Ako, magpakamatay ako sa prinsipyo ko.

Kung iyang prinsipyo ko na ‘yan ikamatay ko, okay ‘yan sa akin. Ipakulong ako habangbuhay, okay sa akin ‘yan. Ginagawa ko ang tama (I will die for my principles. If those principles will be the death of me, it’s fine by me. If I’m sentenced to life imprisonment, it’s fine. I did what was right),” he said.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office earlier released a report saying there was a “reasonable basis” to believe that Duterte and his subordinates committed crimes against humanity in the drug war.

In 2018, the Philippines withdrew from the ICC after Bensouda pushed through with the preliminary examination of the communication filed by lawyer Jude Sabio before the international tribunal.

Sabio’s communication accused Duterte of perpetrating crimes against humanity for thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects since the anti-narcotics drive was launched on July 1, 2016 until March 31, 2017, but he eventually dropped the communication he filed before the international tribunal.