Critics ‘got it all wrong’ on Duterte’s EJK sin

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER file photo / JOAN BONDOC

Malacañang on Monday said critics of President Rodrigo Duterte got it all wrong when they claimed that the case against him in the International Criminal Court (ICC) would be bolstered by his apparent admission that he allowed extrajudicial killings (EJK) in his war on drugs.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque cited three reasons in debunking the claims of the President’s critics.

The President, he said, never made such an admission; there is no case yet against him in the ICC; and the ICC has no jurisdiction over the President.

‘Not an admission’

In a news conference, Roque admitted that he had not yet talked with the President about the controversial statement, although he understood the context of the Chief Executive’s remarks from the video footage and its transcript.

“The President was just emphasizing that no one had criticized him for being corrupt. And when he said his only sin is EJK, he meant ‘People do criticize me for EJK.’ That is not an admission,” Roque said.

He said he found the “ignorance” of the President’s critics amusing.

The call made by Ateneo law dean Tony La Viña for the impeachment of the President over his alleged admission is “simply wrong,” Roque said.

There is no such crime as EJK under international and local laws, he added.

No pending ICC case

Roque also pointed out that the President was not facing any charges in the ICC.

What is pending before the court, he said, is “a communication addressed to the prosecutor,” who is “only examining if she should in fact proceed to a preliminary investigation” of the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs.

Roque said the ICC could have jurisdiction over the President only if Philippine courts and prosecutors were unable or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction over cases.

“We have a working criminal justice system in the Philippines. Those who have complaints against the President, better file their complaints against him here in the Philippines,” Roque said.