Senator Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla on Monday filed a resolution seeking to defend former President Rodrigo Duterte from investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) saying the Philippines has its own functioning and independent judicial system.

In filing Senate Resolution 488, Padilla asked his colleagues to support his resolution seeking “to declare unequivocal defense of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines, in any investigation or prosecution by the ICC.”

The lower house on Monday approved a similar resolution filed by former President and now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

House Resolution 780 highlighted Duterte’s “remarkable accomplishments brought about by his relentless campaign against illegal drugs, insurgency, separatism and terrorism, corruption in government and criminality,” making the life of Filipinos “better, comfortable and peaceful.”

Padilla also noted that after a panel of judges at the ICC in The Hague authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to resume its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines which Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla declared as “totally unacceptable.”

The Duterte presidency, according to Padilla ushered “remarkable accomplishments” brought about by relentless campaign against illegal drugs, insurgency, separatism and terrorism, corruption and criminality; while the peace and order situation considerably improved.

Padilla’s resolution likewise pointed out that the former president believed that widespread serious and rampant illegal drug problem “is an existential threat to the country’s social fabric,” thus the fight against illegal drugs, corruption and other crimes “is a prerequisite for achieving genuine growth and prosperity.” (PNA) 

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