China’s President Xi Jinping. AFP
Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales cited this popular Biblical account of courage on Friday when asked if they were deterred when they filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Morales and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier filed a complaint, technically called a communication, on behalf Filipino fishermen who were “persecuted and injured” by China’s “atrocious actions” in the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Ex-PH officials sue China’s Xi
“That Xi is powerful does not deter anyone from filing a case against him. If we are deterred from filing because he’s powerful, forget it. Don’t be pessimistic, let’s all be optimistic,” Morales said in a press briefing.
“Are you reminded of the days of David and Goliath?” she added.
For his part, Del Rosario said that in filing the complaint, they are “delivering the message that we’re not happy with the way we’re being treated.”
“We want to be treated better and we’re looking for every possible resource to receive the treatment we deserve,” he said.
The complaint was filed on March 15, just two days before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC took effect.
The complainants argued that the ICC’s preliminary examination could be facilitated because the evidence they presented were highly publicized incidents of Chinese incursions.
It also included arguments that were already judicially vetted when the Philippines won the South China Sea arbitration against China at the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal in 2016.
They added that Xi and other Chinese officials should be held accountable for supposedly sanctioning the said “atrocious actions” that affected Filipino fishermen and the country’s marine resources./ac