Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. (Senate PRIB photos)
MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) should cease any further attempt to interfere with Philippine affairs, Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. said on Friday.
“Foreign interests should never be allowed to dictate how we run our affairs. We are accountable to our laws and our people and to no one else. We have a functioning system, and the last thing we want is for misguided parties to meddle and impose themselves on us,” he said in a statement.
Revilla said the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the government, including the violent drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte –the subject of the ICC probe, is backed by the Filipino people.
“Suportado ng mga Pilipino ang laban sa droga. Dama nila ang resulta (Filipinos support the fight against drugs. They feel its results),” the legislator said.
Duterte’s war on drugs claimed the lives of at least 6,200 individuals, according to government records, but human rights groups believe the death toll could be as high as 30,000, mainly if it includes those killed vigilante-style.
READ: Duterte says he will never apologize for drug war fatalities
Revilla also backed the earlier pronouncement of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to “disengage” with the ICC after the Hague-based tribunal rejected the Philippine government’s request to suspend the drug war probe – a distinct appeal from the one pending before the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, which seeks to reverse the ruling that allows the full-blown investigation to proceed.
But Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra had since said that Marcos “might have gotten the impression it was the appeal itself that was dismissed” when he made such a declaration.
Revilla then expressed support for the resolutions lodged in the Senate, urging the upper chamber to come to the defense of Duterte amid the ICC drug war investigation.
Allies of Duterte in the upper chamber, Sen. Robin Padilla and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, have separately filed Resolution Nos. 488 and 492, defending the former chief executive from inquiry and prosecution before the international tribunal.