MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he will “not lift a finger” to protect incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte if he wins the electoral race next year and the International Criminal Court probe into the “drug war” happens in his term.
Moreno said he will not prevent international probers to come to the country and look into Duterte’s “drug war,” that claimed thousands of Filipino lives.
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“I will not prevent anything. Rule of law will be observed under my watch. Why not? If there’s nothing to hide, anyway they’re just investigating. It doesn’t mean you’re guilty or not,” he said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart on Friday morning.
The interview comes two days after Manila mayor announced his bid for the presidency, with Dr. Willie Ong, who lost in the senatorial race in 2019, as his running mate.
Moreno said a duty of a president is to protect every citizen of the country. He said he will not cover for Duterte, but he will also not press anyone in the investigation.
“Wala namang pag-cocover, hindi para proteksyunan. Rule of law will be observed. Every citizen can afford any provision of the Constituiton as matter of right. I will not lift a finger, magcover or tumulong, either way or mag-diin, diinan, yung paghigantihan na naman,” he said.
(They will be no cover-up, not to protect anyone. Rule of law will be observed. Every citizen can afford any provision of the Constitution as a matter of right. I will not lift a finger, to cover or help or either way to press unto anyone or exact revenge.)
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber has approved the request of the Office of the Prosecutor to launch an investigation into Duterte and his men on allegations of crimes against humanity due to the “drug war.”
Duterte’s administration however vowed that they will not cooperate with the probe as they asserted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the country.
The president has formally accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban to run as vice president in the 2022 polls. He in July said he will run for vice presidency to gain immunity from suit. Philippine jurisprudence however only confers immunity from suit to a sitting president. — Kristine Joy Patag