Philippine lawmakers have moved to throw out an impeachment motion filed against President Rodrigo Duterte, the controversial leader who — if his own words are to be believed — may dabble in crimes against humanity. The impeachment filing, heard by a Justice Committee of the House of Representatives, sought the ousting of Duterte on a variety of charges, including unexplained riches, corruption, and even murder. A spokesperson for Duterte called the complaint “rehashed” and “trumped-up” while denying his boss was guilty of any wrongdoing.
The dismissal of the impeachment filing means Duterte can not be impeached on any new grounds until at least March of next year. For those hoping to bring justice in some form, the next step, and perhaps the only silver lining that comes from the impeachment dismissal, is that the ruling may help make a case for an eventual International Criminal Court lawsuit. Monday’s results could be used as evidence that aids a future suit against the president on the count that all conventional attempts have failed.
Duterte was elected to office in June of last year based largely on a campaign that promised to curtail the Philippines massive drug problem. The way Duterte has kept good on said promise to stop both the trafficking of drugs and the consumption of them has been to allegedly order the murder of an estimated 7,000-9,000 drug suspects. He has also openly admitted that when he served as a mayor, he personally took a handful of lives to show law enforcement how he expected the job to be done.
(Via The Washington Post)