THE naming of Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go as co-perpetrators in the extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs is a “derogation” of Philippine sovereignty, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) said on Sunday.
Ferdinand Topacio, PDP deputy national spokesman, expressed the party’s strong condemnation of the “non-stop transgressions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the sovereignty of the Philippines by continuously bringing illegal criminal ‘indictments,’ in contravention of international law, against officials elected by the Filipino people.”
Topacio said Dela Rosa and Go are being prosecuted despite an “evident lack of jurisdiction by the ICC.”
Also named as Duterte’s co-conspirators were former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II; former Philippine National Police (PNP) generals Oscar Albayalde, Camilo Cascolan, and Vicente Danao; former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Isidro Lapeña; and former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Dante Gierran.
In March last year, following an arrest carried out through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Duterte was turned over to the ICC and charged with three counts of murder for being an indirect co-perpetrator in his anti-narcotics war when he served as Davao City mayor and later on as president.
“The seeming cooperation of certain Filipinos in undermining the independence of our country by the ICC is also despicable. History shall judge these traitors unkindly, sooner rather than later,” Topacio said.
Duterte and his co-accused allegedly “shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ criminals in the Philippines, including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production, through violent crimes including murder,” the ICC said.
Topacio accused the Marcos administration of “actively enabling such derogation of our sovereignty in order to cover up its massive raid on the Philippine Treasury amounting to trillions and to decimate the legitimate opposition.”
“The PDP steadfastly stands, not only behind, but beside and even in front of, every Filipino whose rights are being violated, both by the present autocratic regime and its international neo-liberal cohorts. We are ready to fight for our dignity and independence as a nation, vigorously and with every legal means at our disposal,” he said.
Duterte had served as PDP’s chairman. Former energy chief Alfonso Cusi is the party’s vice chairman, while Sen. Robin Padilla is its president.
Go is the party’s national auditor, while Dela Rosa, still in hiding after news circulated that the ICC has issued a warrant for his arrest, is vice president for Mindanao.
Last November, the PDP accused the ICC of conspiring with the Marcos administration to make Duterte a “whipping boy” to divert attention from corruption scandals and the government’s systematic failure.
It said the ICC “continues to experience a crisis of credibility and confidence around the world for its double standards.”
Malacañang has not commented on the PDP’s statement.
It has previously said it respects whatever decision the ICC makes with regard to Duterte’s case.