THE Marcos administration was “blinded by politics” when it allowed former president Rodrigo Duterte to be arrested and surrendered to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa alleged yesterday.
“Binulag ng politika ang pamantayan ng pamahalaang ito sa pagkilala sa garantiyang ibinigay sa bawat Pilipino – dating presidente man or hindi – ng Konstitusyon. Hindi lang mga taga-suporta ni dating pangulong Duterte ang mismong nagsabi na may paglabag sa karapatan ng ating kapwa Pilipino sa pagsuko sa kanya sa ICC (The Marcos administration’s standards for guaranteeing the rights under the Constitution has been blinded by politics. No less than the supporters of the former president are saying that his rights have been violated when this administration surrendered him to the ICC),” Dela Rosa said in a statement.
He cited the statement made by lawyer Alex Medina, a professor of constitutional law, during last week’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that surrendering a person ordered arrested by an international body is only valid if he or she has already voluntarily surrendered to the custody of the national government which will negate the need for an extradition process.
Medina said this is also applicable to a foreigner.
“To expel a person from his country of residence without a lawful court order by excluding the judicial process might amount to a violation of the liberty of abode,” he said.
“That is guaranteed by section 6 of the Bill of Rights. The liberty of abode cannot be impaired with a lawful order of the court. That is the text of the Constitution. Now, this constitutional protection is a barrier for any government action that would simply force or compel an individual to change his residence,” he added.
Medina, who also served as legal counsel of Sen. Grace Poe when she ran for president in 2016, clarified that he is not a supporter of the former president but was just expressing his legal opinion on the issue.
During last week’s hearing, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that while the ICC has no more jurisdiction over the Philippines as a state since it withdrew from the Rome Statute effective March 2019, it continues to have jurisdiction over persons charged before it.
“It is not the Philippines that is under the jurisdiction of the ICC. It is the individuals who are charged by the ICC which is under jurisdiction. We did not surrender as a country, but he (Duterte) was surrendered due to a warrant of arrest issued by the ICC through the Interpol,” Remulla said.
Remulla also said the ICC has been investigating the crimes allegedly committed by Duterte when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC from 2011 to 2019.
He added that the administration invoked provisions of RA 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity in recognizing the warrant of arrest issued against Duterte, as it gives the Philippines two options by which an international court can take custody of a Filipino charged before it – through extradition or by surrender.
“We chose the executive mode, which is surrender,” Remulla said.
Dela Rosa reminded the administration that the lady of justice is blindfolded, which means that the law must not take sides.
“…Kaya naka-piring ang simbolo ng hustisya dahil dapat walang kinikilangan pagdating sa pagpapatupad at pagsunod sa batas (The reason why she is blindfolded is because she must be impartial when it comes to the implementation of the law),” he said.
Duterte’s allies have been calling for his return to the country following what they claimed was his illegal arrest.
Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in an interview last week, said that there is “zero” chance for Duterte to be brought back to the Philippines while the case is ongoing at the ICC.
“Zero chance because the ICC has never granted interim relief while the case is pending to somebody who did not surrender voluntarily. There is only one case when they granted bail, ‘yan ‘yung tinatawag nilang (that’s what they call) interim relief that is equivalent to our bail,” he said.
Sen. Imee Marcos said last week’s hearing was not directed against the administration of her younger brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In a Facebook post, she said the questions she asked during the hearing were the same questions that Filipinos want to ask the government about Duterte’s arrest.
“Hindi ko alam bakit itinuturing na anti-admin ang hearing. Platform naman iyon para sa mga panig at itatanong ko lang naman ang tanong ng mga kababayan natin. Ang sagot ng chief PNP, SOJ, SILG, CIDG at iba pa ay hindi ko naman kontrolado. Hindi ko nga alam kaya ako nagtatanong (I cannot understand why some people consider the hearing as anti-administration. That was the platform of the people and I only asked questions which our countrymen also wanted to ask. The response of the chief PNP, SOJ [secretary of justice], SILG [secretary of the interior and local government, and CIDG [Criminal Investigation and Detection Group] were beyond my control. I do not know the facts that’s why I asked questions),” Marcos said.
Besides, she added, it is her job as a senator to determine if due process was observed when the former was arrested and surrendered to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
In a statement last Saturday, Marcos said she does not have ill feelings against her brother and does not mind that her name was not mentioned by her brother during the “Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas” campaign rally in Cavite.
She said that she would rather focus on coming up with measures on how to protect the sovereignty of the country when Filipinos are being ordered by an international body.
“Ayos lang sa akin. Wala namang problema doon. Okay lang dahil nakatutok ako sa pagsisiyasat ng pagkuha kay FPRRD sa Pilipinas patungong the Hague. Unahin natin ang pagtanggol sa ating soberanya kaysa sa politika’t kampanya (It’s okay with me. There is no problem with that because I am more focused on the investigation of Duterte’s arrest and surrender to The Hague. I am giving priority to finding ways on how we can protect our sovereignty rather than concentrate on politics and campaigning),” she said.
She added she has not been talking with the President.
“Hindi na kami nag-uusap, matagal na (We have not communicated for quite some time now),” she said, adding that it is only through social events that she has a chance to talk to her brother.
“Maraming nakapaligid sa kanya na humaharang sa aming pag-uusap (There are many people around him who are preventing us from talking),” she said.
