Duterte tells lawmaker to take impeachment case to ICC

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told a lawmaker who filed a failed impeachment bid against him, over alleged extrajudicial killings in his drug war, to now take his case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte was unfazed by the threat of Representative Gary Alejano that he will bring the charges against the president to the ICC after the House of Representatives’ Justice Committee voted to throw out his impeachment complaint.

“He can go ahead. He is free to do that,” the 72-year-old leader told a press conference on his return from a trip to Phnom Penh, Hong Kong and Beijing. “This is a democracy.”

“What kind of a war against drug is it if there is no one killed-”Duterte said. “But not in the character and kind that I was dished out, including ordering the killing of children. That is nonsense.” On Monday, the Justice Committee voted to throw out the impeachment complaint for being “insufficient in substance” because it was based on hearsay and Alejano did not have personal knowledge of the alleged offences.

The complaint, the first to be filed against Duterte since he took office in June, mainly accused the president of inducing abuses and extrajudicial killings in his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead.

Meanwhile, Duterte said on Tuesday he was open to exploring the South China Sea’s natural resources with rival claimants China and Vietnam, after securing a “windfall” while in Beijing. Duterte also emphasised he had no immediate plans to pressure China over an international tribunal’s ruling last year that its sweeping claims to most of the sea were unlawful.

“If we can get something there with no hassle at all, why not,” Duterte told reporters when asked about a proposal for jointly exploring the sea with China and Vietnam.

He emphasised the deal would have to be “fair and balanced”.— dpa