Dispatch from Crame No. 702:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on Atty. Sabio's Withdrawal of His ICC Communication

I feel sorry for Atty. Sabio. I can understand that he is going through personal issues that forced him to turn his back on the cause of the victims of mass atrocities. Whatever is the true reason for such an awful move, Atty. Sabio has become very vulnerable to the machinations from the dark forces.

I'm pretty sure there are forces, desperate ones, behind this development. I don't have to imagine the temptation Atty. Sabio must have faced, urging him to put his own interests ahead of those he is supposed to be advocating for. Those voices of temptation could be difficult to resist, and commitments to truth and justice could waver.

At any rate, it's too late a move, and hardly having any significant dent on the progress of the current ICC interventions. There are other communications and information presented before the ICC on the matter of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Duterte regime. The Sabio Communication (not a Complaint; no such thing in ICC processes) may be the first, but not the only one under consideration by the ICC.

The worst thing we can do is accept the false narrative that resort to the ICC and other global mechanisms for accountability is about politics or propaganda. No, this is about human lives and a quest for justice and accountability which is never a lost cause.

Atty. Sabio may have fallen, but the fight continues without him and in spite of his betrayal of the victims.