‘We hoped for the best, but expected the worst’

The Partido ng Demkratiko Pilipino (PDP) yesterday said it “hoped for the best, but expected the worst” amid the decision of the appeals judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejecting the appeal on the request for interim release of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

- By BELLA CARIASO

In astatement, PDP deputy spokesman Ferdinand Topacio said the decision of the ICC was expected.

“While the (party) was quite hopeful that the ICC would see the light and consider the sentiments of the majority of the Filipino people in deciding on the appeal to release the former president, as we said during the prayer vigil which started two days ago, we hoped for the best, but expected the worst,” Topacio said.

The ICC Appeals Chamber issued in open court its unanimous decision denying the appeal lodged by Duterte’s lawyers against the earlier decision of pretrial judges that denied his request for conditional release to another country.

The decision was read by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibañez Carranza, who was appointed presiding judge for Duterte’s appeal on interim release.

“As the ICC continues to experience a crisis of credibility and confidence around the world for its double standards, its decidedly liberal woke orientation, demonstrable bias against Asian and African states and financial and moral scandals involving several of its key officials, it desperately needed a trophy to bolster its sagging fortunes,” Topacio added.

The defense team raised three grounds in its appeal: that the pretrial judges erroneously found that the former president poses a risk, that it erred in its rejection of the guarantees proposed by the state willing to receive him and that it failed to take into account humanitarian considerations in assessing the right to interim release.

But the five-member Appeals Chamber, which is composed of a different set of judges, said the defense failed to identify errors in the assailed decision.