Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s assertion of “personal guilt” as a defense for widespread extrajudicial killings during his administration is insufficient to absolve him of accountability.
This was the response of Atty. Ephraim Cortez, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), who refuted Duterte’s claim that Senator Risa Hontiveros needed a better understanding of legal concepts to avoid embarrassment.
Cortez argued that several avenues exist to determine Duterte’s responsibility for the deadly war on drugs, which has led to serious accusations against the former president for orchestrating the mass killing of suspected drug pushers.
The NUPL president emphasized that Duterte’s case transcends simple murder charges and involves crimes against humanity, making international justice essential, which is why they pushed for the case to be heard by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The legal debate over whether the ICC can still pursue Duterte has intensified, given that the Philippines withdrew from the court years ago.