Former Senator Leila De Lima slams Senator Cayetano, asserting that he should be one of those accused and arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) alongside former President Rodrigo Duterte.
De Lima’s statement stemmed from a video shared by Senator Cayetano, where he preached about decisions having consequences, referencing the government’s decision to allow Duterte’s arrest without exhausting legal remedies.
In a video posted on De Lima’s X account, she said, “Si Sen. Cayetano ang huling indibidwal sa mundo na mangaral kung ano ang dapat gawin ng mga human rights organizations at defenders kaugnay sa pag-aresto sa dating Pangulo.” (Senator Cayetano is the last person in the world who should preach to human rights organizations and defenders on how to handle Duterte’s arrest.)
De Lima also criticized Cayetano for having no right to lecture those who fought for the Filipino people under Duterte’s administration.
She accused Cayetano of enabling, encouraging, and pushing what she described as a deadly criminal enterprise of “summary execution of poor Filipinos in the name of the fake war on drugs.”
De Lima further questioned Cayetano’s call for due process in Duterte’s arrest, asking where he was when people’s rights were being violated.
She explained that under Republic Act No. 9851, the Philippine government has the option to surrender Duterte to the ICC without judicial approval.
De Lima also challenged Cayetano to have the Supreme Court declare Duterte’s arrest unconstitutional before preaching about due process.
It is worth noting that Cayetano was one of Duterte’s close allies. He served as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) from 2017 to 2018 after losing the vice-presidential race as Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 elections.