Supplemental complaint filed before ICC vs Duterte based on hearsay: Panelo

June 6, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte's chief legal counsel downplayed on Tuesday a supplemental complaint filed by two Filipino lawmakers against the chief executive before the International Criminal Court. Secretary Salvador Panelo said the "belated and remedial effort" of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano against Duterte "only goes to show that their unilateral complaint was based merely on hearsay and unsubstantiated allegations. "Unfortunately for the misguided lawmakers, they cannot hope to cure a complaint which is intrinsically flawed and, worse, was filed before a tribunal that does not even have jurisdiction in the first place," he said in a statement. He said the ICC is a court of last resort and filing a case before it can only be resorted to after all domestic legal remedies are fully exhausted. In the 45-page communication submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of ICC, Trillanes and Alejano affirmed and provided updates to the submitted communication of  Jude Sabio before the ICC on April 24 regarding Duterte’s alleged violation of the Articles of Rome Statute through commission of mass murder or extra-judicial executions constituting crimes against humanity. The lawmakers have accused that killings of drug suspects in the country are being done systematically by police through the so-called legitimate police operations, or through vigilante style executions, which are carried out by police themselves masked as part of vigilante groups or through their hired killers. Duterte has declared all-out war against illegal drugs. (Celerina Monte/DMS)