former President Rodrigo Duterte — SCREEN GRAB FROM THE ICC
MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo greeted former President Rodrigo Duterte for his birthday on Friday, saying his legacy had “universal recognition.”
“[T]here is incongruity and irony in your countrymen’s celebrating your 80th birthday while you lay alone incarcerated in a foreign land,” Panelo said in a statement.
“[However], there is universal recognition of the legacies you bequeathed your countrymen and continuing gratitude for the selfless governance you generously bestowed them,” he added.
Duterte marks his 80th birthday in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
Supporters staged rallies across the country to mark the occasion and to call for Duterte’s release and return to the Philippines.
READ: Family, supporters rally as Duterte marks 80th birthday in ICC jail
“The Filipino people, even as they are in a state of sadness and outrage by your unconstitutional arrest, detention, kidnapping and the surrender of the country’s sovereignty by the state authorities, take time from their work and activities to greet you on your natal day,” Panelo said.
READ: Palace wishes Duterte ‘good health, good fortune’: ‘He needs that’
Duterte faces allegations of crimes against humanity said to have been committed during his anti-drugs campaign.
Government data showed at least 6,000 were killed during the Duterte administration’s drug war, but human rights watchdogs said the death toll could be between 12,000 and 30,000.