“Kanang ICC, gusto lang gyud nako igawas, timan-i ninyo, inyong amahan ra ba [Former President Marcos Sr.] gipalubong sa akong amahan – kana na lang gyud unta. Mawad-an na gyud ko’g respeto ninyo. Sobra na pod kaayo,” Mayor Duterte said during the “Unity for One Nation, One Prayer” rally at the San Pedro Square in San Pedro Street, Davao City on the evening of January 28.
(Regarding the ICC, I want to bring this up here: remember that it was my father who allowed the burial of your father. I hope you will remember that, but if not then I will really lose my respect for you. That’s too much!).
Prior to this event, the mayor, during the Hakbang ng Maisug campaign at the Grand Men Seng Hotel on the same day, urged Marcos to resign for his incompetent leadership.
“Mr. President, kung wala kang pag-ibig at aspirations para sa iyong bansa, resign” Duterte said as part of his 12-minute address.
(If you don’t have love nor aspirations in your country, resign).
It should be noted that in the past two years, Marcos had always been telling the media that they would only allow the ICC to enter the country as visitors and not as investigators.
In fact, in 2022, Marcos said the country officially withdrew its membership from the ICC in 2019 when Duterte was still the president.
However, last November 2023, Marcos confirmed that the ICC was planning to return to the Philippines as one of the highest criminal court’s member-states despite emphasizing that there are still concerns on sovereignty and jurisdiction. DEF
