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Aguirre says ICC complaint 'baseless', blasts lawyer

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/02/01/aguirre-020117.jpg"/></figure></div>MANILA- Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II slammed as &quot;amusing and baseless&quot; his inclusion in the complaint filed by lawyer Jude Sabio at the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the complaint will not prosper because it lacks merit.&quot;My inclusion, as a respondent, in the communication filed by Atty. Sabio before the ICC is equally amusing and baseless,” Aguirre said in a statement Thursday.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href=" http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/24/17/lawyer-accuses-duterte-of-crimes-against-humanity">READ: Lawyer accuses Duterte of &#x27;crimes against humanity&#x27;</a></li></ul>He said he found the complaint amusing because “not only are the allegations contained therein utterly false, they are purely hearsay.&quot;Sabio, the lawyer of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, filed on Monday a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte and his senior officials before the ICC, accusing them of crimes against humanity amid the country’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href=" http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/04/24/17/why-duterte-top-ph-officials-were-accused-before-international-court">READ: Why Duterte, top PH officials were accused before international court</a></li></ul>The complaint is anchored on the testimonies of confessed hitmen Matobato and retired police officer Arturo Lascañas, as well as reports on the killings by media organizations and human rights advocates.Almost 9,000 people have been killed since Duterte took office last summer. Police claim a third of those killings were in self-defense during legitimate police operations. Rights groups say many of the remaining two-thirds were committed by vigilantes cooperating with the police or by police disguised as vigilantes. Police deny this.Aguirre criticized Matobato’s credibility, saying a majority of Filipinos do not believe the hitman. &quot;If a majority of the Filipino people did not believe him before, why should the ICC believe him now? The equation is simple. If the source is polluted, the output is likewise polluted. Does anybody, in their right mind, still believe Matobato?&quot; Aguirre said.In his complaint, Sabio said Aguirre is an accomplice due to his statements that contribute &quot;to the commission of the crime in any way with the conscious aim of furthering the criminal purpose or activity of the death squads.” Aguirre, however, said Sabio &quot;apparently threw a net in the sea with this case and want to see how many fishes they can catch before the ICC.&quot;&quot;Sorry to disappoint them this early, they will catch none,” he said.He also criticized Sabio&#x27;s inclusion of a quote he previously said before the media that “drug lords are not humans,” saying he was “deliberately misquoted.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href=" http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/01/17/drug-war-isnt-crime-vs-humanity-aguirre-says-criminals-not-human">READ: Aguirre says criminals not human</a></li></ul>“I never said that drug lords are not humans. I was deliberately misquoted. What I said is that drug lords are not humanity,” he said.The justice chief explained that he has clarified the said quote before the Commission on Appointments that what he meant was that “drug lords cannot be equated with humanity.”“And I still maintain that stance even today. Anybody who deliberately profits from the sale of illegal drugs which destroy the lives, the future and the families of their buyers cannot really be equated with humanity,” he said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href=" http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/15/17/ca-panel-oks-aguirres-appointment-despite-trillanes-objections">READ: CA panel OKs Aguirre&#x27;s appointment despite Trillanes&#x27; objections</a></li></ul><div>‘SUNK SO LOW’</div>Aguirre also criticized Sabio for filing the complaint, saying the latter has “sunk so low” and accused him of disregarding the lawyer’s oath.“He has deliberately prostituted himself at the altar of greed and self-interest. He has disregarded our Lawyer&#x27;s Oath that a lawyer shall not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any,” he said.He also brought up a previous case of Sabio wherein he was warned by the Supreme Court to produce substantial pieces of evidence.“If a court official or employee or a lawyer is to be disciplined, the evidence against him should be substantial, competent and derived from direct knowledge, not on mere allegations, conjectures, suppositions, or on the basis of hearsay,” the SC, speaking through then Associate Justice, now Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales said in its decision of the August 11, 2008 case of Judge Alden V. Cervantes vs. Atty. Jude Josue L. Sabio.Sabio was fined P5,000 for the case and was warned by the High Court that a repetition of the same or similar questioned act will be dealt with more severely. With Reuters

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II slammed as "amusing and baseless" his inclusion in the complaint filed by lawyer Jude Sabio at the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the complaint will not prosper because it lacks merit.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II slammed as "amusing and baseless" his inclusion in the complaint filed by lawyer Jude Sabio at the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the complaint will not prosper because it lacks merit.