By Llore Pasco, Rise Up for Life and for Rights
We, the families of victims of drug-related killings, jeered the twisted and conflicting narratives of the Duterte camp.
The defense claiming that former President Rodrigo Duterte is “not fit to stand trial as a result of cognitive impairment in multiple domains” contradicts the public pronouncement of Duterte’s own daughter Veronica “Kitty” Duterte.
On Sept. 9, Kitty told the media, “For an 80-year-old, he’s pretty strong. No reason to worry.”
Previously, his children visiting him at The Hague also assured the public that their father is healthy. On Sept. 11, Duterte’s grandson, Rep. Omar Duterte, said in a vlog interview, “The attorneys na man, pinapagaan naman ang loob naming (His lawyers, however, are reassuring us); he’s really fit naman, he’s ok, yun lang, being 80 years old, hindi sya ganyan ka malusog talaga (he’s not that healthy); he’s in a very fragile state.”
Ano ba talaga (What’s the real deal)? What is clear is that they are lying through their teeth. They are not even united in their own narrative.
They cannot give any veracity to the document released by Duterte’s counsel. The doctors who supposedly examined Duterte were handpicked by the defense. We do not trust their findings.
This is just one among many tactics employed by the Dutertes to delay the proceedings. The Duterte camp never runs out of antics. They are exploiting all the legal remedies to prevent a trial: from questioning the ICC (International Criminal Court) jurisdiction to requesting indefinite adjournment and interim release. All these legal challenges must not be allowed to hinder our fight for justice.
We call on the Filipino people and the international community to continue standing with us, the victims, as we face all the legal challenges hurled by the Dutertes.
We reiterated that the confirmation-of-charges hearing should be set as soon as possible. The victims’ counsels pointed out that Duterte’s attendance is not even required during the pre-trial stage.
We look to the ICC as the court of last resort. We have waited and suffered long enough. We cannot, and will not, give up now.