Incumbent President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has now formally accepted the nomination of his political party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), to run as Vice-President for the coming 2022 Philippine General Election.
The clamor for and against the Vice-Presidential run of Duterte has been going around after the President himself expressed his will to run for an executive office once more to evade suit. One of the many possible cases he may face is a crime against humanity relating to the war on drugs as alleged by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensauda released a report last year, which stated that there was “a reasonable basis to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm” had occurred since 2016.
After the preliminary report, the ICC asked for a full probe. However, Duterte has already withdrawn the Philippines from the ICC a year earlier when the preliminary investigation was still ongoing.
“You know if you really want me… it’s over my dead body. You can take my dead body to the Netherlands. You will have a carcass. I will not go there alive. But if I see you here, I’ll go first,” Duterte said on August 2, 2021.
Furthermore, the Duterte administration has more problems back at home. With continuously rising cases, the COVID-19 response has been ineffective. Just yesterday, the Philippines reported 18,332 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since the pandemic began.
On the other hand, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported irregularities in the expenditure of the 2020 pandemic response funds, particularly the ₱ 67.3 billion deficiencies of the Department of Health (DOH).
Despite these ‘scandals’ against Health Secretary Francisco Duque, the President affirmed his support for the embattled secretary in his weekly taped briefing that aired on August 16, “But you also know that I will refuse you. In the past, you have attempted to resign twice. I expect you to say something after this. You will resign. I will tell you, ‘No.’ You did nothing wrong. Why should you resign?”
Earlier, Duterte stated that immunity is a reason why he wants to run for Vice-President.
“Sabi ng batas, kung bise presidente ka, may immunity ka. Eh ‘di tatakbo na lang ako ng bise presidente,” he said during a PDP-Laban assembly on July 17.
Despite that, constitutional law expert Pacifico Agabin had mentioned that when former Vice-President Jejomar Binay was facing a plunder case, the Constitution did not guarantee the vice-president’s immunity.
Featured image courtesy of Rappler.
