Sen. Joel Villanueva. (Photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Sen. Joel Villanueva urges President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his decision to withdraw the Philippines from the Rome Statute, saying this would send a “wrong signal” to the international community about the country’s political condition.
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) where cDuterte has been accused of crimes against humanity because of his administration’s deadly war on drugs.
READ: Duterte does the inevitable, declares PH withdrawal from ICC
“I would advise the President to reconsider and face the process of the ICC,” Villanueva said when sought for comment on the withdrawal. “It sends a wrong message to the international community on the political state of the country.”
The senator quickly dismissed any insinuation, however, that the government was hiding something, which prompted the withdrawal from the ICC.
“We’re confident that this government is not hiding anything,” Villanueva, a member of the Senate majority bloc, added.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, meanwhile, asked the public to respect Duterte’s decision.
“Irespeto natin, igalang natin,” Paquiao said in an an interview with Senate reporters.
Asked if the President’s move was meant to evade from the cases filed against him at the ICC, he said: “Hindi naman tumatakas. Wala namang kasalanan ang ating Pangulo. Ginagampanan niya yung trabaho niya.”
[He’s not evading the cases. Our President has not done anything wrong. He’s just doing he’s job.”
“Ang Pangulo, hindi siya gagawa ng hakbang na para sa kanya. Kasi kung gumawa pa siya ng hakbang para sa kanya sa tagal niyang mayor sa Davao sinamantala na niya, yumaman na siya ng todo at maganda na yung buhay niya,” Pacquiao said.
[The President won’t make a move for his own benefit. If he had wanted to do that, he could have taken advantage of his long years as mayor of Davao City. He would have become rich and he would have better life now.] /atm