ICC Briefer on Charges vs. Duterte Mentions “Dela Rosa” and “Aguirre” without First Names
‘DELA ROSA” AND “AGUIRRE” – The said names were stated in the redacted briefer on the charges filed against former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC has decided to postpone the confirmation of charges hearing of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte until further notice. The ruling of the court came after Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, claimed that the former Chief Executive is allegedly “not fit to stand trial”.
Kaufman also asked the ICC to adjourn all legal proceedings over the case indefinitely. According to him, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is allegedly unable to remember places, events, and family members as he is suffering from a ‘cognitive impairment’. He hopes that the Marcos Jr. administration will allow his client’s return to the Philippines for his interim release.
However, the Marcos Jr. administration was quite mum on the hope of Duterte’s lawyer and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin even asked, “Who is Kaufman?”. Although the confirmation of charges hearing which was supposedly set on September 23 was postponed, the ICC revealed the charges filed against former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.
The former Chief Executive is charged with three (3) counts of murder. The alleged “crimes against humanity” were supposedly committed during his terms as mayor of Davao City and as president of the country. Based on a report on GMA News, the foreign court also bared the redacted briefer on the charges filed against the former President which mentioned “Dela Rosa” and “Aguirre”.
The first names of “Dela Rosa” and “Aguirre” were not mentioned in the ICC briefer but the former was stated as “PNP Chief”. Former Philippine National Police chief turned Senator Bato dela Rosa was the first head of the national police under the Duterte administration.
“[Redacted] Dela Rosa promised that they would ‘immediately’ implement a ‘scaled up’ version of the Davao model: ‘If someone fights back, they’ll die. If nobody fights back, we’ll make them fight back’. ‘Produce blood. Instill fear’,” the ICC briefer read.
With regards to “Aguirre”, based on the report, it is stated in the ICC briefer on the charges filed against former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte that “Aguirre said the new administration’s ‘programme’ was ‘to do everything to stop drugs, crimes, and corruption'”. During the previous admin, the chief of the Department of Justice was Atty. Vitaliano Aguirre.
Amid the detention of the former President under the International Criminal Court for six (6) months now, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that her contacts abroad helped for the interim release of her father. According to her, a “third country” has committed to host the interim release of the former President.