Duterte and Yasay should review the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
They erroneously claim that the Court interferes with the domestic justice system of the Philippines.
The principle of "complementarity" that guides the Court provides that it shall assume jurisdiction only when a state is UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE individuals located within the state who are guilty of the crimes of GENOCIDE, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND WAR CRIMES.
The Court does not interfere with the Philippine judicial system.
The real fear of Duterte is that in due time when the evidence against him and his tyrannical regime begin to consolidate, proving the State-inspired extrajudicial killings and vigilante murders perpetrated caused by his repressive regime's "war on drugs", he would appropriately face criminal prosecution and judgment before the Court or appropriate international criminal tribunal that the United National may create for the purpose.
Even if Duterte withdraws unilaterally the membership of the Philippines in the treaty (which is unconstitutional), and if the evidence so warrant, he may still be prosecuted by the United Nations, acting through the Security Council (SC), the General Assembly and other UN human rights agencies, pursuant to the UN Charter and other applicable treaties and covenants.
In fact, the UN SC may on its own create a special criminal tribunal to prosecute him when warranted by the evidence and after giving him an opportunity to be heard (a constitutional right which he and his policemen have withdrawn and denied from the helpless Filipino drug "suspects" who were killed under Duterte's deadly war on drugs, the number of which has reportedly reached more than four thousand since he assumed office on June 30, 2016 or for a short period of five months).
This uncivilized and inhuman trend, if not stopped, will convert the Philippines into a the killing filed of Asia as in the case of Cambodia under the communist Pol Pot in the late 1970s.
Many gullible Filipinos support Duterte.
Like Duterte, who is himself a lawyer and an officer of the Philippine Courts, such gullible Filipinos refuse to give importance to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Rule of Law, the Criminal Justice System, and the various world convenants and treaties on Human Rights.
They abet the inhuman act of Duterte of treating drug addiction, or any substance abuse for that matter, NOT AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE but purely a CRIMINALITY ISSUE that should be met with bloody death.
This attitude of Duterte is not in conformity with current international standards on how to deal with the social problem of addition.
Death is not the remedy to addiction.
Duterte clings to his obsessive-compulsive theory that war and death are the proper solutions to crimes, peace and order problems, and other social issues.
He is grossly mistaken.
Such is the common attitude of a feudal warlord.
Soon he and his cronies and co-conspirators will face their karmic destiny before the International Legal System.
His term of office is only good for six years.
He will not be our president forever.
His old age and presidential immunity from suit do not serve as legal impediments to his international criminal prosecution if the evidence so warrant now or in the near future.
He may fool and control the sixteen million Filipinos who voted for him for sometime but such a manipulative and machiavellian tactic does not last very long.
Remember, he is not a majority president.
Only sixteen million voted for him.
Thirty eight million did not vote for him.
He is merely a plurality president.
And his term of office is limited to six years.
Beyond that time, karmic retribution for his unconstitutional, illegal, repressive, violent and destructive acts will ripen.
My prayer is that the Filipinos awaken and be enlightened as to the truth about our current situation.
I pray that we all defend and protect our national interest as a people against tyranny, autocracy, totalitarianism, godless and brutal communism, greed and cronyism, and isolationism from the world community.
Our future lies in our hands as enlightened citizens.
Not in the hands of a narcissistic and violent ruler, like Duterte.
