President Rodrigo Duterte has reiterated his stance on his controversial war on illegal drugs, brushing off the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) looming investigation.
During his speech at the inauguration of the Narvacan farmer’s market in Ilocos Sur on Saturday, Duterte said he would be happy to transfer power to his successor and take care of the ICC case himself.
“One is that I promised you law and order . . . I’m now facing a criminal charge sa… International Criminal Court. Good, basta tinupad ko ‘yung trabaho, wala na akong pakialam kung ano ang mangyari sa akin,” Duterte said.
“Dadalawang buwan na lang, I’ll be out. I’ll be happy to transfer the power to whoever you would elect as president. Iyon lang naman ang akin. Ako na ang bahala sa kaso ko. I did it for my country,” he added.
The President previously said he wanted his successor to continue his drug war, albeit a different approach, fearing that illegal drugs would proliferate as the end of his six-year term neared.
This developed after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año reported that in the past week authorities intercepted more than P159 million worth of illegal drugs in 1,230 operations.
The international tribunal suspended its probe in November “while it assesses the scope and effect of the deferral request” of the Philippine government.
Rights groups who have lobbied for ICC to investigate the killings in the country have argued that the thousands killed under the war on drugs were more than enough to warrant an international probe — more than 6,000 based on official figures but more than 30,000 according to estimates of rights groups.
