ICC complaint De Lima’s stunt
“It is clear that politics is behind all of these allegations against the President before the ICC,” Go told the Daily Tribune
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Thursday dismissed the complaint filed against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court
(ICC) as nothing more than a political stunt. This developed after Malacañang supporters and opposition politicians clashed anew over the filing of the withdrawal of communication on the complaint.
“It is clear that politics is behind all of these allegations against the President before the ICC,” Go told the Daily Tribune.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s former aide also warned those behind the ICC complaint, saying tables do turn eventually.
“(Malacañang) already knows the people behind this smear campaign against the President. Just wait for your time,” he said.
On Wednesday, lawyer Jude Sabio withdrew the communication on the case he filed before the ICC against President Duterte in April 2017.
Sabio said he withdrew his participation because the case was merely used by the President’s political opponents for propaganda.
He asserted that detained Senator Leila de Lima is behind the filing of the complaints.
Sabio represented self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato when the latter filed the same before the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2016.
“I personally submitted the complaint with the Ombudsman, upon the direction, directly by Senator De Lima,” Sabio told reporters, further adding that the complaints were “largely made by the staff of Senator de Lima.”
Just this week, Sabio made headlines after executing an affidavit retracting the crimes against humanity complaint he filed against the President in April 2017 before the ICC for alleged deaths linked to the administration’s drug war.
According to Sabio, De Lima’s direct involvement in the filing of complaints against the President proved that she also had a hand in the filing of the ICC case against the President, along with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
“In April, I went to the ICC. Senator De Lima was already under detention so I had no opportunity to talk to her or to coordinate with her. At that time, it was really Senator Trillanes that I was able to coordinate and talked to.”
“But all this time because of the involvement of Senator Trillanes, De Lima is also involved in the ICC case.”
Sabio, who earlier sued the President for alleged mass murder now claims he is unsure if so-called extra judicial killings did happen.
“As a lawyer, if you ask me if there are extrajudicial killings, I have no personal knowledge, I am not a policeman.”
“When I filed the communication, I relied on the testimony of Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas who demonstrated that there was a system being conducted in Davao that was expanded later on when President Rodrigo Duterte became President.
But with what happened in the Bikoy scandal, I began to question.”
“I began to raise serious doubts about the contents of the communication.”
Matobato and Lascañas, a retired police officer in Davao, both testified that a so-called Davao death squad exists.
“Based on the pattern, it is likely also that there is serious doubt about the testimony of Matobato and Lascañas.”
He said he initially believed in the complaint that he filed and advocated against summary killings.
According to him he originally believed the ICC complaint and advocated for it even though it was the unpopular thing to do. He soon realized his mistake when the Bikoy incident happened and he was even called to defend the man.
This relates to Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy — the man behind the controversial “Ang Totoong Narcolist,” which Sabio claimed to be false and a mere propaganda campaign against the President.
“This we know about the Bikoy scandal. In my view, the President is not guilty because the Bikoy videos are meant to destroy the President.”
He similarly ruled out pursuing cases related to extra judicial killings for as long as Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and other opposition personalities are involved.
Sabio denied claims he betrayed the Liberal Party opposition, saying he did not receive payment from them but was instead used by the group.
Sabio likewise reiterated he was not also paid to withdraw the ICC complaint.
“I (was never) paid a single centavo for my submission to the ICC. I was never paid for my work for Arturo Lascanas when I escorted him and his family to a foreign country” for asylum purposes.
“I was never paid a single centavo for my work for Edgar Matobato” either, he said.
While he acknowledged that his hotel and plane tickets for the trip to The Hague, Netherlands to file the complaint were shouldered by Trillanes’ group, among other expenses, he said there was nothing wrong with that as lawyers are entitled to such privileges.
While he acknowledged the impact of the legal work he did for Matobato, Lascanas and the ICC on his personal security, he also said cannot bear the thought that he was also used to discredit the President.
“I will never allow myself to be exploited and destroy the president of this country. Why? because my intention in the ICC (Case) was not to destroy President Duterte. My intention was to seek justice.”
He said will go to The Hague again soon to personally file the affidavit he executed.
Lawyer Larry Gadon who will go with him, will finance the trip to the Hague using the former’s personal money.
Go said the allegations against
President Duterte is meant only to diminish the success of the government’s anti-drug campaign.
He cited the 2019 Social Weather Stations survey clearly showing 79 percent of the population support the administrations’ anti-drug campaign.
Go shared pictures of the Chief Executive on a motorcycle and cited alleged public complaints of insensitivity amid the destruction resulting from the Taal eruption.
“The President is working 24 hours. Is he prohibited from riding his motorcycle for a short while to destress?” Go rhetorically asked of an event that lasted no more than 10 minutes.
“I (was never) paid a single centavo for my submission to the ICC. I was never paid for my work for Arturo Lascanas when I escorted him and his family to a foreign country” for asylum purposes.
He similarly ruled out pursuing cases related to extra judicial killings for as long as Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and other opposition personalities are involved.