First major test of Marcos on Filipino Human Rights



Opposition leaders in the Philippines have scored what might be called a slam-dunk by asking the new Philippines President, Ferdinand Marcos, to restore the country’s membership in the International Criminal Court.

Arguably the request is a litmus test of the new leadership of the Philippines, two alleged criminal dynasties represented by Ferdinand Marcos as President and Sara Duterte as Vice President. The two slide into power in an election they spent billions of pesos to win and bring to power the two dynasties of ousted dictator and kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos and the dynasty of the accused mass murderer Rodrigo Duterte.

 

Under the Rome Statute the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte has done every trick available to create impunity for the former president in the matter of allegations of massive numbers of Extra Judicial Killings over the past six years.

“The deferral of the ICC investigation requested by the Philippines is not justified… Today, (Friday, 24 June 2022) I filed an application before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) seeking authorisation for my Office to resume investigation in the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines (“Philippines”),” said Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A. A. Khan QC.

Referring to this deferral, opposition Senator Leila de Lima, who has been held as a political prisoner for five years, said “The DOJ investigation is nothing but window-dressing designed to divert the focus of international human rights bodies and to fake compliance with international human rights standards. This fakery simply did not fool the prosecutor of the ICC Chief Prosecutor.”

“I welcome with great relief and optimism the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request the latter to lift the suspension on the preliminary investigation of the Philippine situation,” said Senator de Lima last week.

“It is clear that the Duterte government, including its Department of Justice, has not conducted any meaningful investigation of the extra-judicial killings committed by state security forces and state agents in the course of the war on drugs. It is also clear that the OTP has seen through the ruse that the so-called DOJ investigation is, calling it a mere desk investigation that has not amounted to anything substantial to unearth the principals behind the Duterte government’s EJK policy,” said Senator de Lima.

“The more we are a member of communities of shared values of human rights, the better,” said Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, who often indicates she grieves the prevalence of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

Gone but never forgottenAngel Murdered in Manila, her Barbie Doll beside her in the dirt. “This is why we are so angry, and this is also why we cry,” says nurse Karinna Angeles who knew this child’s family from a previous tragedy. Photo source supplied. Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine