MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte should stop being a “hypocrite” and not “hide behind her position” to shield her father—former President Rodrigo Duterte—from accountability, according to ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and nominee Antonio Tinio.
Castro and Tinio’s reaction came after the vice president claimed that it is her responsibility as the country’s second highest official to ensure the her father’s return to the country from his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands.
READ: Chances of Duterte going home sans ICC ruling are slim, says expert
“Itigil na niya ang pagiging ipokrita dahil ginagawa lang niya ang pagpapabalik sa tatay niya mula sa ICC ay para hindi ito managot sa mga kasalanan nito sa mga biktima ng extra-judicial killings sa kanyang pekeng drug war at red-tagging,” Castro said in a statement on Sunday.
(She should stop being a hypocrite because she is only doing this to bring her father back from the ICC so that he will not be held accountable for his crimes against the victims of extra-judicial killings in his fake drug war and red-tagging.)
“The Vice President cannot hide behind her position to shield her father from accountability. Justice for the victims of the drug war must be served, and the ICC process should be allowed to proceed without political interference,” she added.
For his part, Tinio hit the younger Duterte’s “selective approach” in helping Filipinos detained abroad.
“Vice President Duterte claims she has ‘a duty to a fellow countryman’ in ICC detention, but where was this sense of duty for the thousands of other Filipinos detained overseas? Has she shown any concrete actions to help Mary Jane Veloso or other OFWs facing grave situations abroad?’ Tinio questioned.
“Ni wala ngang maipakita si VP Duterte na trinabaho niya ang mga kaso ng libo-libo nating mga kababayan na nakakulong sa ibang bansa tulad na lang sa kaso ni Mary Jane Veloso,” he emphasized.
(VP Duterte has no evidence to show that he is working on the cases of thousands of our countrymen imprisoned abroad, just like in the case of Mary Jane Veloso.)
Based on reports, the former chief executive’s war on drugs resulted in at least 6,000 people dead; however, human rights groups reported that the number may have reached 20,000.
Last March 11, Duterte was served an arrest warrant by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s brutal drug war.
Duterte is currently detained in The Hague, the Netherlands where ICC is based. He attended his pre-trial hearing via video call last March 14.
