If he wins in Eleksyon 2022, Filipino activist and vice presidential aspirant Walden Bello on Tuesday said he will coordinate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold President Rodrigo Duterte accountable for the drug-related killings.
“We will cooperate with the International Criminal Court. And if he (Duterte) is found guilty then he gets sent to The Hague. There is so much evidence at this point,” Bello said in an online Pandesal forum. Bello is the running mate of labor leader Leody de Guzman of Laban ng Masa.
Further, Bello said they will work with detained Senator Leila de Lima on the investigation as she was jailed because “she dared to investigate President Duterte.”
In September, the ICC opened the investigation on the request of then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s to probe crimes “allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign.”
For Malacañang, the case would not prosper, arguing the Philippines is not required to cooperate with the investigation owing to its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019.
Expect Marcos-Duterte tandem
On the issue of substitution, Bello said the country will expect a Marcos-Duterte tandem, which he said would only seek to plunder the Philippines.
“I think that there is indeed a very big chance that Sara Duterte will either, through the substitution process, run for President or Vice President but we expect there is going to be a collaboration with Marcoses,” he pointed out.
“This is the way these guys think wala talagang maaasahan sa mga ito. Their idea is how do you divide the country in order they can plunder it,” Bello also said.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte on Tuesday withdrew her reelection bid amid calls by his supporters for her to run for president. It was not yet clear if she will push for the presidency or vice presidency.
Criminalize hate speech vs LGBTQ community, women
On protecting women and LGBTQ, Bello said if he wins they will be pushing for a law that will impose criminal liability on hate speech against women and LGBTQ.
“We will take measures to reduce the violence against women. One of the things that I would support or push is to make hate speech against women and LGBTQ people criminally liable,” said Bello.
He cited that there must be consequences of these hate speech, citing President Duterte’s rape jokes as an example.
“You know like joking about rape. You cannot joke about rape because that encourages the crime. If it is seen as something that is just you can joke about like President Duterte has,” the vice presidential bet said.
He, likewise, said that if they win in next year’s polls, they will appoint women and members of LGBTQ community to the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Bello said they hope that the Catholic Church will not stop the full implementation of Reproductive Health law, which he authored when he was a lawmaker.
“One of the things I am very proud of was that we were able to pass the Reproductive Health Act back in 2013 despite the opposition of Catholic hierarchy. I just hope the Catholic hierarchy will stop obstructing the implementation of the RH Act,” said Bello.—LDF, GMA News
VP aspirant Walden Bello to work with ICC to prosecute Duterte
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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