PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday welcomed the plan of Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano to file a complaint against him before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged human rights violations.
"Yeah, he can go ahead. He is free to do it. This is a democracy," the President said in a press briefing early Tuesday.
The impeachment complaint against Duterte, which was filed by Alejano, failed after Duterte allies in the House of Representatives' committee on justice on Monday dismissed it for lack of substance.
Alejano is now considering going to ICC to let Duterte answer for alleged state-sponsored killings in the President's war on drugs.
In April, lawyer Jude Sabio filed a complaint before the ICC, accusing Duterte of committing crimes against humanity and mass murders since the Duterte administration started its deadly war against narcotics trade.
Duterte admitted that there are drug-related deaths in the country but he insisted that these are not state-sanctioned.
The Chief Executive cited that even Senator Leila de Lima failed to prove that he ordered the killings when she conducted investigations against him during her previous stints as Commission Human Rights chair and Justice Secretary.
He added that the separate inquiries at the Senate and the House of Representatives found that the drug killings are not state-sponsored.
"Look, I was investigated by the [Commission] on Human Rights when [De Lima] was still the chairman. I was investigated again when she was the Justice Secretary. Then, I was investigate again by the Senate and I was investigated against by the House [of Representatives]," the President said.
"Some guys are being taken for a ride. That's true there were killed. Son of a… Is there a war on drugs from which no one dies? But not in the character and kind that I was dished out to order [the killings, even of] the child. That's insane. You know me," he added.
On Monday, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Alejano should instead "plant trees in his province to protect our environment," rather than spreading "forest of lies" against Duterte. (SunStar Philippines)