The ICC arrest drama at the Philippine Senate exposed the bloody legacy of the drug war — too many lives lost, too little accountability. Sen. Bato's resistance only deepens the injustice. A peaceful surrender would be the first honest step toward reckoning with the devastation left behind.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, making any ICC arrest warrant on Philippine soil a direct assault on national sovereignty and due process. Allowing a foreign warrant inside the Senate sets a dangerous precedent that tramples established legal institutions. Accountability for this breach is non-negotiable.
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