Duterte to ICC: I’m ready to go to jail

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte said he wouldn’t mind going to jail if the International Criminal Court (ICC) would find him guilty of committing crimes against humanity.

“Kung may ginawa kami, sige. Kung makulong, eh ’di makulong (If we did something, then okay. We go to jail, if we have to),” the President said in a televised address after presiding over the weekly meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Wednesday night.

He was reacting to the ICC office of the prosecutor’s statement that there was basis to believe that crimes against humanity were committed in the conduct of his administration’s war on drugs.

He blamed the opposition for feeding ICC wrong information to regain political power.

“Wag kayong maniwala diyan sa opposition. Walang ginawa ‘yan, gusto lang ‘yan bumalik kasi kung maari lang ibigay ko na lang para hindi na sisirain ang Pilipino, hindi na tayo masira. Ibigay ko na lang (Don’t believe the opposition. They do nothing but make attempts to return to power. If only I could give it to them so that they don’t have to malign the Filipinos, or destroy us. I can give it to them),” he said in Filipino.

“Sen. Bong (Go) was right. He said if you want to appear white, you paint the other person black,” he said. “That’s what they do; paint us black so they would smell better and look white.”

He also taunted former senator Antonio Trillanes for tweeting that the day of reckoning for Duterte and “his cohorts and enablers” is near.

“Duterte may try to ignore the jurisdiction of ICC over him but deep inside, he knows that he cannot get away from this one,” Trillanes said. Duterte, addressing Trillanes, said he is not afraid to go to prison.

“Why try to frighten me with threat of imprisonment? If it’s my destiny to go to prison, then I’ll go to prison,” he said.

He also said Trillanes reminds him of dog feces. “Every time I look at you, you’re shit of a dog,” Duterte said.

He also lambasted the former senator for reportedly linking his family to the drug trade. Trillanes had already denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has condemned the ICC for issuing the report.

The DDB, the top drug policymaking body in the country, said the ICC report is a “move to discredit the efforts of the Philippine government” in the fight against illegal drugs.

“The DDB urges the ICC to remain impartial and non-selective. Full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states as well as the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of the state is a precept which must be observed by all,” it said in a statement.

The DDB claimed that it has repeatedly presented the administration’s plan of action through the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy (PADS), to cut the supply and demand for drugs.

The PADS, it said, is a whole-of-nation approach that balances and strengthens law enforcement and public health strategies. – Romina Cabrera, Emmanuel Tupas, Alexis Romero