Roque: De Lima is just grandstanding

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Sen. Leila de Lima does not understand international law and was only grandstanding when she slammed a Palace official for telling the International Criminal Court (ICC) to avoid meddling in cases of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the senator, who was detained in Camp Crame, had an “utter lack of understanding of international law” and should mind her own legal woes.

“We should no longer give credence to anything that comes from Sen. Leila de Lima as this is from a polluted source, who was accused of drug trafficking by at least 13 witnesses,” Roque said in a statement.

“We consider her views as rather pathetic attempts to remain relevant and in the headlines, hence, these should not be taken seriously,” he added.

De Lima on Saturday scored Roque for reminding the ICC that it had to respect local legal processes “unless it can be shown that the state is unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute” the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

“The response of the international community has always been clear. Stop the killings, and prosecute the President and all those responsible for promoting and defending his self-admitted policy of killing Filipinos,” De Lima said.

“Of course, the President will not do this, and you, Mr. Roque, will not stop defending his murders. This is why your only way out is to withdraw from the ICC,” she said.

“I just hope you don’t honestly think that you and your boss can get away with murder so easily just by withdrawing from the ICC. I am sure all your years of schooling and scholarship have not made you into such a simpleton. Justice will always be done, Mr. Roque. You for one should know that,” she added.

Roque countered that De Lima’s opinion “reflects her utter lack of understanding of the principle of complementarity in international law.”