00:00Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte undergoes pre-trial proceedings in absentia at The Hague on Monday, February 23, Manila time.
00:09International Criminal Court Deputy Prosecutor Mandiaye Niang delivers the prosecution's opening statement.
00:14Today marks an important day for international justice for the people of the Philippines, for the victims, and for this
00:29court.
00:30It is also a reminder that those in power are not above the law.
00:40Niang also says Duterte is criminally responsible for crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder.
00:46The ICC Deputy Prosecutor also reads out Duterte's public statements to show his, quote,
00:52criminal plan and his intent were no secret.
00:55Filipino lawyer Joel Butuyan, who represents the victims' families, warns the ICC pre-trial chamber
01:01that if the charges against Duterte would not be confirmed, the virus of impunity would continue to spread in the
01:07Philippines.
01:07Mr. Duterte has created clones of himself.
01:12He converted millions of peace-loving citizens into bloodthirsty disciples
01:18who have become converts to the belief that violence and killings are valid solutions to societal problems.
01:27Your Honours, there is only one solution to stop the impunity propagated by Mr. Duterte
01:36from continuing to bring harm and suffering to the victims.
01:40And that is for this Honorable Chamber to confirm the charges so that witnesses can testify
01:47and evidence can be presented on the horrible crimes committed by Mr. Duterte.
01:53The testimonies and evidence presented will inoculate these mini-Dutertes
02:00from the virus of impunity that has infected them.
02:04Many of these mini-Dutertes or Duterte clones
02:07are actually victims of massive doses of fake news widely circulated online.
02:14They need to be vaccinated with the truth.
02:17Truth is the antidote to the virus of impunity, Your Honours.
02:23The victims dread a future where charges are not confirmed in this case.
02:28It will mean that the virus of impunity will continue to spread and infect many more.
02:34victims fear that Duterte clones will become an even bigger group
02:40that can elect another apostle of impunity as the Philippines' next leader.
02:46Imagine a leader like Mr. Duterte, who proudly and publicly proclaimed
02:51his aspirations of following the footsteps of Adolf Hitler when he said,
03:11The defense will claim that he was merely bombastic and acerbic when he made these statements.
03:18But if he were merely being pompous and flippant,
03:22the people who were killed should be alive and laughing today at his supposed pranks and stunts.
03:29Duterte's lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, also delivers a bombastic opening speech for the defense,
03:34heavily borrowing from the diehard Duterte supporter's playbook.
03:38Kaufman says the charges against his client are politically motivated,
03:41claiming the media and civil society are complicit in building that image.
03:45Your Honours, over the next few days, we hope to convince you
03:48of the wholly insufficient nature of the evidence against Rodrigo Duterte.
03:53We will show you that the paltry number of speeches on which the prosecution rely
03:57do not manifest criminal intent.
04:01We will also convince you that as hard as they tried,
04:05the prosecution's investigators couldn't get even one of its criminal cooperating witnesses,
04:11whose reliability is next to zero, to admit that they heard the former president,
04:17Rodrigo Duterte, give an order to kill at any time relevant to the charges,
04:22or with respect to any of the incidents.
04:24And we hope that when you conclude your deliberations, Your Honours,
04:30that you will dismiss these grievously misplaced and politically motivated charges.
04:35We will ask you to send Rodrigo Duterte back to his family
04:40and we will ask you to give back to the Filipino people their tatai digong.
Comments