Of late, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is the subject of a complaint filed before the ICC accusing him of “crimes against humanity” and members of the Opposition have been exchanging mutual high-fives over news that the ICC has initiated “preliminary investigations” on the matter. Are the agents of the much-feared “International Criminal Court” (ICC) about to parachute into Manila and get to the bottom of the so-called “war on drugs” (a.k.a. the “war on the poor” according to the Philippine opposition)? Highly doubtful.
For one thing, there is no evidence that the Philippines’ judicial system has ceased to function. The fact that the Opposition (led by Liberal Party cohorts, a.k.a. the Yellowtards) are noisily supporting current Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who is currently battling allegations of improper conduct on many fronts, is proof that the Opposition tacitly acknowledge that the justice system is still working.
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The process the ICC will go through to assess whether or not the case is worthy to go to trial is a long one and involves determining whether (1) any crimes were actually committed (something even the Philippine Opposition struggles to prove), and (2) whether the party state failed to prosecute the crime where complaints had been filed.
As far as can be observed, neither of the above two criteria had been met by anyone accusinng Duterte of “crimes” of any sort. The only thing at work, as usal, is a global trial by media. The Yellowtards have had ample experience in the practice of using corporate media organisations to demonise their enemies as was observed during the “impeachment trial” of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012, and going back even further.
In this current instance, the allegations against Duterte rest almost entirely on the back of what has since been revealed to be incorrect information about the extent of so-called “extrajudicial killings” being propagated by “social news network” Rappler. Columnist Rigoberto Tiglao revealed in an article published on the Manila Times how Rappler had sloppily cobbled together disparate snippets of data to come up with an inflated “death toll” figure that it then proceeded to bandy around (and, as a result, lapped up and regurgitated by Western news media companies). Throughout this, Tiglao points out how the editorial leadership of Rappler had remained tight-lipped in response to requests for them to clarify the anomalies in their reporting…
I had emailed Rappler managing editor Glenda Gloria and the researcher who wrote the piece, Michael Bueza, two weeks before I wrote my exposes on their epic lie, requesting if they could clarify to me how they got the 7,080 figure. They didn’t respond at all, not even a “no-comment” or mind-your-own-business reply.
Not surprising then that a management team that had become renowned for routine lack of transparency in how they go about their business is now in trouble with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to comply with regulations that restrict sourcing of funds in exchange for the slightest semblance of control from foreign entities. It is no wonder that mainstream news media had lost the trust of the public considering that a dishonest organisation such as Rappler had, in the last several years, so presumptuously positioned itself as God’s Gift to Philippine Journalism.
The fact is, there is no breakdown of institutional democracy in the Philippines and all duly-constituted administrative processes are channeling political power through lawful channels. This is, in fact, so unlike the preferred extraconstitutional modus operandi that has come to characterise how Yellowtards go about their business of shouting down people in government that they do not like.
If the Opposition are so convinced that it will take the intervention of a foreign entity like the ICC to sort out their country’s internal affairs, then they should act consistently with that stance and refuse to participate in any further exercise that involves institutions and democratic processes that they believe have “broken down”. Indeed, that is exactly the thinking that goes into their preferred trademark modus operandi — those so-called “people power revolutions”. In that sense, the call for ICC intervention is no different in principle to the Yellowtard “people power revolution” exercise. By inviting the ICC to do the job of the Philippine judiciary, the Yellowtards have, in principle, issued a no-confidence vote on Philippine democracy. They should not be allowed to have their cake and eat it.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Hopefully the people of ICC will NOT be temped by the “fake news” organizations like Rappler, Inquirer, Abante, Remante, Bulgar, Reuters, etc., etc. for gathering evidences against President Duterte or else, the ICC is a “biased” international judicial court. If they really want to gather & seek the evidence(s) against our president on his alleged War On Drugs, then they should communicate directly to PDEA, DOJ Secretary Aguirre, Solicitor General, NBI & PNP and check their datas & reports, and not to the members of the Liberal Party & the corporate media.
And I would like to say about how deadly the War on Drugs here in the Philippines especially if someone will take dangerous drugs like shabu, coccaine, heroin, rape drugs, etc., etc. & to those people who ignored the laws related to drugs. For those human rights activists out there, are you not really concerned to yourself on how those narcotic drugs had a huge effect on our “human” body both physical, mental & psychological in nature? And are you not really concern to yourself that what will happen if you’ll gonna violate a law that prohibits the use, selling, shipping & distributing the illegal/narcotic drugs like coccaine, shabu, LSD, non-medical marijuana, heroin, ecstasy drugs, opoid, etc., etc., etc.? I know that this is NOT your job as a human rights advocates, lawyers or advocates because this kind of issue is REALLY done by anti-narcotic drug agents & lawyers or an anti-narcotic advocates/groups like D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), D.E.A., Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), etc. and if you’ll gonna face them on a debate if which is the most important of all, is it Human Rights or a world that are free & safe from those dangerous narcotic drugs & drug related crimes? Think about it! If you’re still criticize our president & his war on drugs rather than criticize those organized drug lords or mafia who continue to manufacture, sell & distribute narcotic drugs to the innocent people or they’d kidnapped poor & marginalized people & forced them to become a drug mule or drug pushers in order to do their dirty business, then that’s a huge BS!!!
I dont think it matters how many were killed/shot/assassinated/butchered. What matters is, what a president (government/parliament) did to prevent it and what he did to catch the killers and did he actively encouraged to kill people who were addicts, dealers etc.
So when it comes to 2), I personally think Duterte will have a hard time to explain himself.
Not sure what you mean. Has any complaint against Duterte been filed via the Philippines domestic justice system? And, if so, has any complaint been of enough substance to make it to court? I think several legislators have also attempted to build cases against him and gather up momentum within their respective chambers to mount an administrative case against Duterte. All these have been done using due process and none have prospered.
well for those people who will complain that there are some “innocent” people who’d died from the War on Drugs & some of them were been framed up by the scalawags (corrupt) cops, maybe that one will become an evidence but then again, that situation is not really the works of President Duterte but it is the works of a power hungry & corrupt policemen in our country. They just want to do their own War on Drugs rather than following the orders of our president by NOT PLANTING AN EVIDENCE to the innocent people who are not involved on drugs or drug related crimes just like what the Laglag Bala (Bullet Placing) Scheme had done by the NAIA employees to the innocent airport passengers not so long ago.
What really annoys me is that the Opposition are so desperate to pinpoint the EJKs on Duterte and never point on other parties who are involved outside the government.
This is just another political ploy…
Stupid asshole Benigno! Were you born yesterday, eh?! Duterte or any president of the Philippines has immunity for the duration of his 6 year-term. Whatever case that will be filed against him will not prosper in court because of that immunity as long as he is still the president of the philippines. And anyone who will file impeachment complaint against Duterte will not prosper also because of the rubber-stamp house of representatives lead by the imbecile house speaker Alvarez who will dismiss the impeachment rap immediately and who threatens those congressmen who go against duterte to regret their decision. His most famous line for them is “zero budget”. The only last resort and best option of the opposition really is to file their case in the ICC that will conduct impartial probe against this “all too-powerful” and ‘all-knowing” present administration.
Where exactly did I put a timeframe on my assertion? I said it will not prosper, full stop. Read carefully next time.
LOL! Excuses! As if you are talking here of Duterte as a private citizen or him after his presidency. Who are you trying to kid benigno? We are obviously talking of him being the current president, which has immunity from suit. You think the opposition did not challenge him before the “domestic justice system” as your question to robert haighton? Are you kidding? It was obviously all over the news! The opposition had done challenging his immunity and it was turned into trash. They tried impeachment and the house of representatives rejected it as destabilization eventhough it has enough substance. So the last resort is the ICC. Let see if this duterte really has no fault since all those extra-judicial killings in his administration remain unsolved to date. This preliminary investigations of the ICC prove that there is enough arsenal on the complaints filed by the opposition. So, don’t be too confident on your beloved demi-god politician.
I read your comment above and I couldn’t find a single pertinent point within it. All I find are flawed assumptions about what you think I meant. At the very least I would have expected an answer to my previous comment, “Where exactly did I put a timeframe on my assertion?”
“All these have been done using due process and none have prospered” There. I spoonfeeded you! That’s the reason I’m rebutting you and punching it straight to your face! In case you will ask why, go back to my previous comments and I hope your deranged mind will finally understand.
Nah. That says nothing about any timeframe within which you said that I claimed that the ICC will prosper (or not). As I said, my assertion is that the ICC case will not prosper over whatever timeframe (within or after Duterte’s gig in public office) defined — because I didn’t mention anything about any timeframe to begin with.
Huh! What is this? You are not following properly or you are making your own words. Of course I did not say to you any timeframe which you claimed ICC will prosper.
Very clear what I stated above and I will not repeat it again. It seems you are confused with my word “court” which means Philippine court and not the ICC. Read again.
Um, you also said this:
So you’re also hoping that the Duterte would be tried by the ICC? You’re sounding just like Bam Aquino which he said that
“ang ‘preliminary examination’sa ICC daw ay pagkakataon na masagot ng Malacañang ang mga issues.”
That’s not how it works.
Yeah, if duterte made a crime against humanity he will be responsible. Just like the president/prime minister who committed genocide against his people he was later remove from office and was convicted by the ICC.
@PinoyCitizen: It is you who needs to recall your own words. You began this thread by saying this…
You assumed I had a timeframe in mind when I made my assertion that any ICC case against Duterte will not fly. And yet my article makes no reference to any such timeframe. You should really work on your comprehension faculties.
Why do you think i’m responding to your article benigno? I began my “thread” as a response to your question to robert haighton. Look again. And from there i asserted that any case that will be lodged against Duterte in the Philippine court has no chance to prosper because he has immunity from suit as a president under the present constitution. And any impeachment complaint will not stand a chance because of his allies in congress. So the ICC is the only chance for the opposition to remove duterte from office because he has no immunity in international court. The preliminary investigation is just the start of this tedious process. As for the timeframe, i did not say any. You are the one assuming since you are not following the flow of thread. Your bad.
By “court” I meant a court chartered within Congress, which is the only government body with the power to effect punitive action against a top govt official who, as you yourself pointed out, is immune from prosecution via the judicial system while in office — such as in an impeachment proceeding. In 2012, for example, an impeachment court was convened in Congress to try the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Read carefully next time.
Those people who had deranged minds are those with lazy thinking while hurling labels and insults. That’s what left-leaning liberals do. Remember that.
All ad hominem and no substance. Perhaps you should read between the lines before you go on a emotional outburst.
Please do not pretend to be a know-it-all. You are an alien. And you expect us to pay attention to you? I would not hesitate to suspect that you went with Trillanes and Alejano, or Atty Sabio to file the stupid complaint to the ICC. Being a foreigner like you who is not even living among the Filipinos, to be against a democratically elected President like PDigong is like someone regretting being born and a child displaying tantrums for toys that he cannot have. Stop messing with our country and start minding your own backyard. It will be good for you. Promise.
By responding to my comment you already are paying attention (to me).
I dont think simple citizens (like me) can file a complaint with ICC. Well, I never tried it anyway.
If my memory still serves me well, Duterte was elected/chosen by only 39% of all votes. That is NOT a majority. The majority did NOT vote for him (60.99%).
The Philippines not only need to modernize their constitution and laws but also the system of when a contender/candidate wins the elections.
Why do you get so emotional over me while stating that you will not paying any attention to me? Ignoring me is the best policy.
How do you figured out and get all those percentages that you present? Are you sure? Do you have proof to show us here that the Elected President in the Philippines chosen only 39% ?
Let me be more precise and accurate:
Duterte got 39.01% or 16,601,997 votes out of a total of 42,552,835 valid votes. Compared to his competitors Duterte got the most votes. But in most countries you need 50% + 1 vote. Or there must be some thing like a coalition parliament/government.
So in short, 60.99% did NOT vote for Duterte. Based on such low figures, I dont want to be the president of any country.
In PH case ( other alliances are also possible):
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan PLUS United Nationalist Alliance party. (39.01% + 12.73% = 51.74%)
Presient Duterte said he would actually welcome an open debate. It seems that the Opposition and their foreign sponsors are the ones in denial of due process and transparency.
It won’t gain ground, but never expect less from the opposition milking this as a means to attack him and his administration, they don’t have anything to counter other than being friends with Communists and trying to take down Duterte and bring back the previous status quo while now acting like they were always “Anti-Corruption”, Daang Matuwid hypocrites. And ICC record is abysmal, if Bush and Obama can bet away with destroying countries than the only thing the ICC can do is go for soft targets like all politicized organizations do, but don’t let it stop the fact that they are pretty much politicized and they can defend African savagery and Muslim Terrorists.
When justice is more certain and more mild, is at the same time more efficacious.
i dont think this case will prosper.The opposition just need some issues to divert the people from real problem(dengvaxia).
This is the Plan D , of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis, to grab back power, by hook or by crook. They went to the United Nations and the European Union. It did not work. The hired Calamard, as their tool. It did not work. Now, they went to the International Criminal Court. They are hoping , it will work.
Unfortunately, the International Criminal Court has no power, to arrest any President or ruler of any country. It has no Police or Army. It is a “toothless dog”, to frighten heads of states.
The International Criminal Court, should go to North Korea, to investigate Kim Jung Un, of his crimes, against his people. They should go to Myanmar, where the Muslim minorities, are being massacred, raped and brutalized by their military. They should go to Syria, where Pres. Assad is allegedly murdering his people. They should go to the ISIS territories, where people are cut by their heads, women are raped and sold as sex slaves, and other atrocities being committed.
The International Criminal court is being used politically by the Aquino Cojuangco political axis, to oust Pres. Duterte,and make the Fake Vice President Leni Robredo, as President. The Supreme Court Aquino dog: Caguioa, is delaying the recount of the Bong bong Marcos votes, on the 2016 election cheating of Aquino and Robredo, to see on the outcome of their Plan D.
They are hoping and hoping. If Plan D will not work. Maybe, there will be Plan E, up to Plan Z.
LOL! And that’s where our taxes go, they use it to personally attack President Duterte by any other means like you name it: spreading fake news, street protests, assassination attempt, coup plot, etc., etc. but in the end they couldn’t beat him. They only bring more hate, lies, divisions, greed & power grabbing instead of helping our country to make way for a better change. Liberal Party is a laughing stock already. 😀
What I’ve read somewhere is that this case should not even be considered. Alleged EJKs and murders by Duterte should be tried in a Philippine court, not abroad. Because if ICC interferes and investigates without examination, it would be a violation of our sovereignty. Most especially if it can’t be proven that Duterte is behind the murders. Besides, if it’s criminals who are actually being killed, the ICC would ironically be defending criminals if it decides to proceed with trying Duterte.
Its funny how Duterte and his allies are currently trying to remove the chief justice, and for what? Not fully disclosing her income, how ironic! Ever wondered why Duterte has been putting so much of his personal time and effort into compromising the justice system?
Its this kind of thing which makes external bodies such as the ICC necessary, it may be powerless, but it does highlight issues corrupt leadership to the international community putting pressure on those leaders engaging in that sort of behaviour.
As if the past administration isn’t? THAT is exactly what they did to the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona that paved the way for the induction of Sereno to the position of Chief Justice.
The more you know, as they say.
How are the actions of the past admin even remotely relevant? I don’t have any skin of the game, so I’m happy to agree with you that it is sketchy for an admin to try to target members of the judicial system whether it is a past or the present admin, red, white blue green or yellow, doesn’t matter.
When I first heard the news tbh I immediately thought “obvious yellow attack dog” Trillanes & co. strikes again, this time including the good senator Gordon (whom he had an argument with in the senate) and others in his schemes to bring Duterte down. Also these so-called “extrajudicial killings” are nothing more than the cowardly act of either “big fish”(criminal bosses) or the police protectors of these pushers the “little fish” putting them in silence first so they can’t tesfify against them in court before they eventually get caught in the ongoing war against drugs.
it all started in the garden of eden, the fake news. where in the hell you’ve heard a virgin gave birth, a lightning volt wrote the ten commandments on a stone, and so on. it’s in the book.
So obviously the Holy Bible & other religious books are the origin of fake news, if you’re a non-religious person.
There are those who drank the flavor aid and believed 3 million users in a population of 105 million constitutes a crisis, then there are those who realised it was bullshit, dug deeper and saw the 3 million users meme came from a survey of those who had used an illegal substance at least once in their life, it was not a survey of those who were current regular users.
It isn’t even a debate anymore, the president manufactured the crisis, there’s just this group of people who are so deeply invested (this sites admins) that they would rather keep their head in the sand.
Whether the case manifests itself into anything is somewhat irrelevant, the fact the president even drew the attention of the ICC, then, additionally, the ICC saw some merit in investing their time in assessing the case is fucking embarrassing. Yet, some here believe screaming about the currently irrelevant “yellowtards” somehow works into this issue?
How you managed to drag the yellows into this issue is beyond me? It just highlights how much your anti-yellow complex skews your thinking about issues.
Did the president on his own draw the attention of the ICC though? Check your facts. I think the reason the ICC is involved is because some bozo who had lost faith in the Philippines’ ability to resolve its internal issues filed a case before the ICC.
In fact, the case he filed is so insubstantial that he is pretty much just wasting the time of the ICC.
So why do you think the ICC decided to go ahead with the examination? You’re implying an international body who spent 9 months assessing the merit of the case was simply tricked by a rogue senator?
Check my facts? Did the ICC not take the step forward to examine the case further? Did Duterte not manufacture the drug crisis? I’m not sure what you’re alluding to, I still stand 100% behind everything I wrote.
Of course they had to check the complaint. It’s just an administrative procedure — a box they need to tick in a standard procedure.
Umm no – ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that her office has decided to pursue a preliminary examination of the situation in the Philippines “following a careful, independent, and impartial review of communications and reports documenting alleged crimes.”
I love how you avoid the fact Duterte used fake statistics to justify his calls for killing drug addicts during his election campaign, – that won’t look good during the investigations, will it?
An “examination of the situation” is just a fancy term for saying they will assess whether or not the complaint holds merit or substance.