De Lima sees ‘limitation’ in ICC prosecution

MANILA, Philippines — Although former Sen. Leila de Lima urged the government to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), she also told the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) not to “lose faith” in the domestic justice system, as the ICC can only “go after the higher ups.”

“[Prosecuting] those in the middle and lower levels, that is the limitation of the ICC,” said De Lima during the launch of “Duterte Panagutin!,” a campaign organized by various human-rights groups and the kin of EJK victims, aiming to compel the government to cooperate with the ICC.

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Besides its cooperation, De Lima on Monday also asked the Marcos administration to have the country rejoin the ICC in order to avoid a repeat of the killings and human-rights abuses under former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Because we cannot be sure that in the future, even if we hold Duterte accountable, there won’t be another killer acting as king in our country,” she said. —Gillian Villanueva