Iginiit ni dating Sen. Leila de Lima na dapat muling sumali ang Pilipinas sa International Criminal Court (ICC) lalo at ang pag-alis dito ay hindi naging kapaki-pakinabang sa bansa kundi para lamang sa interes ng iisang tao: si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

“Why would it be so difficult to rejoin ICC when the withdrawal therefrom was highly suspect, serving only the interest of one man who obviously just wanted to evade accountability?” tanong ni de Lima, na nakulong ng mahigit anim na taon mula noong Duterte administration.

Pinag-aaralan na ng gobyerno ang panukala na bumalik ang Pilipinas sa ICC na nagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon sa madugong war on drugs ng nakaraang administrasyon.

Sinabi ni de Lima na kinikilala ng Pilipinas ang kaalamang nasa likod ng Roma Statute na siyang nagtayo ng ICC matapos na ratipikahin ng Senado ang pagsali sa international treaty noong 2011.

“So why perpetuate Duterte’s self-serving and shameless act of withdrawal?” tanong ni de Lima.

“Those who oppose rejoining the ICC are only serving the interest of Duterte and others who are responsible for the murder of thousands of our countrymen,” dagdag pa ng dating senador.

Kinondena rin ni de Lima ang pahayag ni Vice President Sara Duterte, ang anak ni dating Pangulong Duterte kaugnay ng posibleng pakikipagtulungan ng administrasyong Marcos sa ICC sa isinasagawa nitong imbestigasyon sa war on drugs ng nakaraang administrasyon.

“All told, the Dutertes of Davao are not the best resource persons for the administration in deciding whether or not to cooperate in the ICC investigation, considering that they are the ones being investigated for their role in the operation of a death squad in Davao City during the period within the scope of said investigation,” wika pa ni De Lima.

Ayon sa dating senador, mistulang minamaliit ni VP Duterte ang prerogative ng Pangulo na muling sumali sa ICC nang sabihin nito na siya ay magsusumite ng legal na posisyon sa Department of Justice (DOJ).

“But as a member of the cabinet, VP Sara has no business submitting such legal opinion in her capacity as DepEd Secretary. The ICC matter has nothing to do with the DepEd,” punto ni de Lima.

“Second, if she is submitting her legal opinion in her capacity as VP, then she is accomplishing precisely the very opposite of her admonition that we should respect the President’s position, by preempting the finality of said position even when she has no authority to do so,” pagpapatuloy nito.

“In her capacity as VP, she is not a member of the Cabinet, and therefore has no role whatsoever in shaping foreign policy at the Cabinet level,” dagdag pa ni de Lima.