Labor leader Espiritu backs ICC return to keep violence in check

Metro Manila, Philippines - The country is a “factory of mass murderers,” labor leader and senatorial candidate Luke Espiritu said, as he backed the country’s possible return to the Rome Statute to hold high-stakes criminals accountable.

The Rome Statute is a treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Philippines, under then President Rodrigo Duterte, withdrew from it in 2019 amid the court probe on his bloody war on drugs.

In the NewsWatch Plus election roundtable “Ang Kandidato,” Espiritu said he favored Philippine membership in the Rome Statute as the country is “very conducive” for mass murderers due to political dynasties.

“Violent ang political clans natin. Tignan mo sa mga local areas, merong mga EJK (extrajudicial killings) diyan, intimidation and harassment. Hindi naman si Duterte ang nag-imbento ng extrajudicial killing. 'Yan ay matagal na sa ating bansa na merong ganyan,” the labor leader said.

[Translation: Our political clans are violent. Look at our local areas, there are EJKs, intimidation, and harassment there. Duterte did not invent extrajudicial killings. That has been in the country for so long.]

“Our country is a factory of mass murderers at kapag hindi tayo bumalik sa Rome Statute ay hindi natin mapaparusahan 'yan. Otherwise, mapaparusahan lang natin 'yan – pumili sila, gusto nila ng ICC process o gusto nila ng revolutionary justice?” he added.

[Translation: Our country is a factory of mass murderers, and if we do not return to the Rome Statute, perpetrators will not be penalized. They just have to choose if they want to undergo the ICC process or revolutionary justice.]

Duterte has been under ICC custody in The Hague, Netherlands facing pre-trial proceedings for crimes against humanity for murder.

While the Philippines has exited the Rome Statute, the ICC still has jurisdiction in cases when the country was still a member. In the case of Duterte, his actions from 2011 to March 2019 as former mayor of Davao City and eventually as president.

Based on human rights data, the drug war death toll could reach around 30,000.