appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Grenville Cross

On March 11, when former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte arrived at Manila airport on a flight from Hong Kong, he was arrested by prosecutors. They acted on an Interpol arrest warrant issued at the behest of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It alleges Duterte committed “crimes against humanity” during his “war on drugs” when he was Davao City mayor and then president.
The ICC, which prosecutes global crimes, became operational under the Rome Statute in 2002. The Philippines joined in 2011, withdrawing in 2019.
While Duterte was in Hong Kong campaigning with his daughter Sara, the Philippine vice-president, ahead of the midterm senate elections due in May – Hong Kong has a significant Filipino population – he was asked about the warrant and said he “did everything … for the Filipino people”.
Duterte chairs the Philippine Democratic Party (PDP) while his daughter Sara chairs the Alliance for Change (HNP) and both are thorns in the flesh of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.
Although Marcos Jnr and Sara were elected together on a dream ticket in 2022, they quickly fell out. This was partly due to Marcos pivoting towards Washington, allowing the United States to open four new military bases (making nine altogether), and confronting Beijing in the South China Sea. As president, Duterte successfully promoted better Sino-Philippine relations, keeping the US at a distance, and father and daughter were dismayed over the policy shifts.
Given their clout, Marcos took no chances. Last month, the House of Representatives, which is controlled by a pro-Marcos coalition (the house speaker, Martin Romualdez, is his cousin), launched impeachment proceedings against Sara. One impeachment article accuses her of failing to “strongly” denounce China’s allegedly aggressive activities against Filipino forces in the South China Sea.


If impeached, Sara’s political career will be over and she will be unable to contest the presidency in 2028. Both father and daughter will have been neutralised which, given their following in opposition circles, Marcos must consider a relief.
After his arrest, Duterte’s lawyers urgently petitioned the Supreme Court to assume jurisdiction over the case and issue a temporary restraining order. However, with unseemly haste, the authorities expedited the permits required to transfer Duterte to The Hague. Within 12 hours of arriving in Manila from Hong Kong, he was on a private jet bound for the Netherlands, where he was placed in the ICC’s custody.
When quizzed, Marcos said: “Interpol asked for help and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfil”, a far cry from his earlier stance.
After Marcos succeeded Duterte as president, he made clear he would have no truck with the ICC investigation, which began in 2018. In January last year, he declared he would not “lift a finger” to support the ICC case and would only allow its investigators to enter the Philippines as visitors. However, amid soaring tensions with the Duterte camp, this changed, and the Marcos administration said last November it would be obliged to arrest the former president if the ICC requested it through Interpol.
Although the Marcos administration denied having previously worked with the ICC over Duterte’s arrest, senators are questioning this: accusations have been reported (in the Manila Times and elsewhere) of prior consultation between Marcos’ government and the international bodies, the government being notified in advance of what was afoot and agreeing to cooperate with the ICC over the warrant’s execution.


These matters will require a full accounting, as also will Marcos’ revised stance on Duterte’s arrest. It is hard to escape the impression he is hoping to win the May midterms by eliminating opposition figures. Although posturing as an upholder of international justice, his handling of the affair has generated big concerns.
Marcos has yet to explain why he prevented the Supreme Court from adjudicating upon the legality of Duterte’s detention or issuing the relief he sought. His actions seem contemptuous of legal norms, which require that domestic remedies be exhausted before a suspect is sent elsewhere for trial. He appears to have disregarded due process, and Marcos’s sister, Imee, who chairs the senate’s foreign relations committee, has commiserated with “poor president Duterte”, saying she “cannot accept” his treatment.
Imee’s committee is investigating if domestic laws were violated by the arrest, emphasising “our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount”, which does not bode well for her brother.


Her committee will also need to examine non-compliance with the Rome Statute itself. The ICC is a court of last resort, and only acts if a state is either unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes over which it has jurisdiction. The Philippines’ judiciary was fully capable of trying the case, evidence permitting, and if Marcos felt so strongly about bringing Duterte to justice it is surprising he prevented it from doing so.
It appears, therefore, Marcos was unwilling to have a domestic trial, presumably because he feared an acquittal and political fallout. However, if he imagined handing his rival over to the ICC will earn him political advantage, he may be in for a rude awakening.
Irrespective of the merits of the prosecution, many Filipinos are appalled that Marcos has treated Duterte as he has. Duterte’s son, Paolo, described his father’s treatment as a “blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Philippines and hence unconstitutional”, a view that could prevail in the May midterms and beyond. Duterte is frail, turns 80 on March 28, and could die in foreign detention, a fate for which many would never forgive Marcos.


Hong Kong launching pilot scheme to bring in foreign carers for the elderly

Chinese research ship completes month-long mission near Scarborough Shoal

Should Beijing use its maritime militia as a backup force in the South China Sea?

South Korean killer’s drone escape from Philippine prison foiled by test footage

The Philippines

In handing Duterte to ICC, Marcos stirs up Philippine hornets’ nest

Police block protesters as they try to march towards Malacanang palace in Manila, Philippines, on March 17 to call on the government to rejoin the ICC after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AP

What Duterte’s arrest means for Philippine politics – and its global standing

Rodrigo Duterte pictured at an Asean summit in Bangkok in 2019 when he was president of the Philippines. Photo: Reuters

The Hague Penitentiary Institution prison is seen on Thursday, a day after Duterte’s arrival in the Netherlands following his arrest on an ICC warrant. Photo: ANP/AFP

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr holds a press conference in Manila on Tuesday after the arrest of his predecessor. Photo: Kyodo

Protesters hold a “We Stand with Duterte” banner on Wednesday near the prison in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, where people detained by the ICC are held. Photo: EPA-EFE

Domestic politics is why Rodrigo Duterte is facing the International Criminal Court

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on March 11 in Metro Manila following the issuance of a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Photo: EPA-EFE

Philippine midterms: voter anger over cuts, Duterte’s arrest threaten Marcos’ Senate slate

Police block protesters during a rally in Manila on Monday calling for the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court. Photo: AP

Men sit on sacks of rice in Manila. Filipinos have voiced concern that a reduced budget for agriculture could drive up food prices and impoverish farmers and fishermen. Photo: AFP

A supporter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte mocks a doll of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on March 11. Photo: EPA-EFE

Duterte’s ICC arrest justified under obscure Philippine law, legal experts say

Protesters rally in support of the detention of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte outside of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Photo: AFP

A view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte display his image on a car in Manila on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Philippines’ crackdown on Duterte disinformation may backfire, analysts warn

Supporters of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gather during a prayer rally, in Manila, on March 15. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte carry flags with his image during a motorcade calling for the return of the former leader on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Filipino migrant workers pose for a photo next to a banner expressing thanks to former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in the Central district in Hong Kong on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Asia Opinion

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Too many questions surround the abrupt U-turn on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, from sovereignty to political persecution


Too many questions surround the abrupt U-turn on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, from sovereignty to political persecution.


Rodrigo Duterte

International Criminal Court

Drugs

Crime

Human rights

Ferdinand Marcos Jnr

Interpol

South China Sea

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


In handing Duterte to ICC, Marcos stirs up Philippine hornets’ nest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Too many questions surround the abrupt U-turn on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, from sovereignty to political persecution

Too many questions surround the abrupt U-turn on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, from sovereignty to political persecution