DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 November) – President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to follow Russia’s move to leave the International Criminal Court if the international community continued to criticize him for the alleged state-sanctioned killings that are being linked to the war on drugs.
Duterte issued the statement in his departure message in his departure message at the F. Bangoy International Airport on Thursday.
“Why? Tayo lang ang minamaliit at binubugbog ng mga walang hiya (They are looking down and ganging up on us),” he said.
ICC, a 124-member intergovernmental organization and tribunal based in The Hague in the Netherlands, holds jurisdiction over cases of genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity.
“The court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again,” the ICC website said.
Duterte lashed at the United Nations for its alleged failure to stop the wars in some parts of the Middle East that have killed thousands of civilians and children, citing the war-torn cities of Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Northern Iraq.
He said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to create a “new order,” he will be the first to join and leave the UN.
He said the UN and its predecessor, the League of Nations (1920 to 1946), had both failed to stop wars.
“There is still war… The killing is endless. The blood is splattering. Just because it is America, it does not mean that it is good,” he said.
He added that he kept swearing at prominent leaders like US President Barack Obama so that they would listen to his position against drugs and criminality.
“Kasi hindi sila nakikinig (They are not listening). Everybody is going back and forth everyday on the issue of extrajudicial killings. They do not listen,” he said.
Last August 21, he threatened the Philippines would leave the UN amid criticisms on his war on drugs.
“So, the next time you issue it, I do not want to insult you. But maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations,” he said.
The UN was established on October 24, 1945, after World War II, with 51 founding members including the Philippines. It has two headquarters, one in New York and another in Switzerland. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)