MANILA, Philippines — Malacanang has on Thursday claimed it will not file any charges against lawyer Jude Sabio who accused President Rodrigo Duterte “mass murder” before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Early this week appeared on national media saying he already withdrew his complaint with the ICC which he said to have only been crafted and engineered by Duterte’s political rivals.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo explained Duterte “does not file charges against people who accuse him of wrongdoing because he believes that the truth about the accusations would eventually come out.”

“If you noticed, the president doesn’t mind all of this. He just lets people malign him. He does not file charges against them,” Panelo said in a press briefing. 

“Lies can be sustained only for some time. Once it haunts the peddler, then those lies melt in the heat of truth…Regardless of the lie you spread about the president, they will eventually be proven to be false. It only shows that this is a robust democracy in place,” Panelo added.

Way back in 2017, Sabio filed a communication with the ICC linking Duterte and other officials to what he described as “continuing mass murder” in the Philippines.

On his ICC complaint, Sabio accused Duterte of crimes against humanity and had claimed that the president’s crackdown on illegal drugs have resulted in the death of at least 7,000 people.

He also accused Duterte of being the leader of the so-called Davao Death Squad, a group that he said is responsible for the death of 1,400 people.

In withdrawing his complaint, Sabio said Duterte’s critics of using it (ICC complaint) for propaganda.

Sabio also accused Duterte critics former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Sen. Leila de Lima of not providing him enough financial support. (IAMIGO/Currentph.com)