Lagman slams Roque for ‘180-degree turn’ in drug war stance

Rep. Edcel Lagman and presidential spokesman Harry Roque (File photos from PDI and INQUIRER.net)

Published: 6:01 p.m., Feb. 11, 2018 | Updated: 1:03 a.m., Feb. 12, 2018

Opposition lawmaker Rep. Edcel Lagman accused on Sunday presidential spokesperson Harry Roque of doing an about-face from his Aug. 10, 2016 privilege speech in which he cautioned President Rodrigo Duterte about his statements on the war on drugs.

In a statement, Lagman recalled Roque’s privilege speech, when he was still Kabayan party-list representative, warning Duterte to “be careful” with his statements on the war on drugs to avoid prompting the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enforce its jurisdiction.

“Some individuals easily crumble under the weight of official title and jettison without qualms their principles for partisan subservience and convenience,” Lagman said. “Now, Roque sings a completely different refrain, a 180-degree turnaround.”

Use of violence

Lagman recalled Roque’s statement during the second month of the Duterte administration: “Apparently, the President is aware of these acts and that they are in fact ongoing. Even without proof of directive on his part, he has in many instances spoken about the use of violence against drug syndicates.”

He also quoted another one of Roque’s statements: “It is clear that civilian populations are in fact under attack. We see this and the International Court of Justice has recognized this fact through news reports all around us overwhelmingly establishing that hundreds of Filipinos have been killed either directly or by government forces, or with the support or tolerance.”

Roque’s speech cited numerous rulings by the ICC providing that the crime against humanity need not be stated clearly in the form of a policy for it to be considered state-sanctioned.

“While it would be imprudent for me to say with certainty that President Duterte has already committed a crime against humanity, it would still be a disservice to this entire nation if I didn’t warn the President to be careful,” Roque said at the time.

‘Taken out of context’

Sought for comment, Roque said in a text message that he had been “taken out of context.”

“There was no conclusion there. Just a warning. I said that elements of crimes [against] humanity were still to be established,” he said. “I concluded [the President] could still not be held liable for crimes [against] humanity.”

On Thursday Roque dismissed as a “waste of the court’s time and resources” the ICC’s move to conduct a “preliminary examination” on lawyer Jude Sabio’s complaint of crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody antidrug campaign. /atm /pdi