Panelo lauds Marcos’ assertive stance vs ICC probe of Duterte
THE former chief legal counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for expressing his “unyielding, unequivocal and assertive stance” against the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) for insisting on investigating the past administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Salvador Panelo, Malacañang’s former top legal adviser, blasted the ICC for its “intransigent, outrageous and vexing attempts” at placing the Philippines under its jurisdiction and looking into the crimes against humanity allegedly committed under Duterte’s watch.
Marcos earlier reiterated that he is against the international tribunal’s move to resume its investigation into Duterte’s war on drugs, as the country has a “good” justice system.
Panelo called out other government officials for their conflicting responses — one requested to defer the probe, while the other official “justified the action of the other by saying that the requested suspension of investigation was merely being done out of courtesy.”
“Such justification is fallacious and the height of naïveté. When an international entity pursues a policy of intrusion to the internal affairs of our country, especially in the manner we run our prosecutorial and judicial system, and effectively assaults our sovereignty and territorial integrity, there is no place for hypocritical courtesy response,” the former Palace official said.
“Why are we appealing to an entity to reverse its decision when we are precisely not under its jurisdiction? By doing so, we are in effect recognizing that ICC has jurisdiction over us. Those twin moves of requesting for a suspension of the investigation and appealing the denial of the request for suspension plus submitting evidence justifying our said request and appeal weakened our position that ICC has no jurisdiction. It will not be surprising if the ICC is quietly laughing at those contradicting booboos,” he added.
Instead of “requesting ICC for a suspension of its probe,” Panelo suggested to concerned officials to “take the cue from his successor, Juan Ponce Enrile, and insist on the arrest and incarceration of ICC investigators should they set foot in the country.”
“The clear and unmistakable language of PBBM should serve as warning to the ICC to halt its unwanted and unacceptable assault on our independence and sovereignty.
Should they persist, our jails are being decongested for their occupancy,” he said.
Panelo also said that since the ICC seemingly had no plans of backing down and “claims that our country does not have the capacity or the willingness to prosecute the criminal offenders,” then the tribunal should carry the burden of proof that Duterte indeed carried out the order to commit extrajudicial killings.
“The ICC has to prove that our government does not have the capacity nor the willingness to make those accountable pay for their crimes, and not the other way around,” he said.