MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that he would be ready to face charges against him — including the crimes against humanity case filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the drug war killings — once he had stepped down from power.
He had only one request from his opponents: Do not lie and fabricate evidence.
“I will wait for those who keep on saying they will file cases. I will wait for it and I will prepare for my defense in the ICC case and others,” he said in Filipino. “Just don’t lie. Don’t invent [stories] that you will even charge me with the deaths of those who had malaria.”
“That’s foolishness. In that case, you’re not looking for justice. Don’t cheat on the evidence,” he added.
In 2018, critics of Duterte’s drug war, along with relatives of suspects killed in police operations, filed a complaint against Duterte before ICC for crimes against humanity.
READ: Drug war critics file complaint vs Duterte for ‘crimes against humanity’
Duterte reiterated that he would answer for police officers involved in drug war operations, especially in cases when suspects were killed — “as long as they obeyed the law.”
“I will protect you. That’s on me, not on me. I will answer for that, and if someone has to be imprisoned, then let me be the one imprisoned,” Duterte said, speaking partly in Filipino.
He remained firm, however, in his stance that he would not participate in any probe launched by the ICC, insisting the international body no longer had jurisdiction over the Philippines.
According to him, the Philippines has its own judicial system and the ICC should not interfere with its processes.
Duterte has already announced that he will retire from politics the moment he leaves office in June 2022.
He said this when he withdrew his intention to join the vice-presidential race in the 2022 elections, with Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go taking his place as a PDP-Laban candidate.
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