THE Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos will conduct an “urgent investigation” to find out if due process was observed during last week’s arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte in relation to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation on his alleged crimes against humanity case.
Duterte was arrested last Tuesday upon his return from Hong Kong on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC.
The service of the warrant was coursed through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and was served on Duterte by Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon.
The former president was subsequently flown to The Hague, where the ICC headquarters is located, on Tuesday night via a chartered plane and surrendered to the jurisdiction of international tribunal.
An advisory from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau (PRIB) said the inquiry will be held on Thursday (March 20) at 10 a.m.
Marcos, who is the committee chairperson, said there was a need for the Senate to clarify the issues surrounding the development, noting that legal minds have differing opinions on the former president’s arrest.
Duterte’s camp has insisted that the arrest was illegal since the Philippines is no longer a member of the Rome Statute, while other legal position state that the arrest was lawful since the arrest order was based on alleged crimes that were committed while the country was still a signatory to the Statute.
Former executive secretary Salvado Medialdea has claimed before the ICC Pre Trial Chamber I during last Friday’s hearing that Duterte was allegedly “kidnapped,” citing the tribunal’s supposed lack of jurisdiction over the Philippines.
Topping the agenda of the Thursday hearing are clarifications on the involvement and roles of the Interpol, the ICC and various government agencies in the arrest of Duterte.
The hearing will also confirm if measures were taken to ensure that the rights of Duterte under domestic laws and relevant treaties were properly protected throughout the process.
The last part of the hearing would include discussions on other matters which may aid in the crafting of relevant legislation on the coordination between Philippine authorities and international tribunals and law enforcement organizations.
Malacañang said Marcos is “free” to conduct the investigation.
Communications Secretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, in a briefing, said the Palace would not prevent any resource person invited by the Senate to attend the hearing.
“If the inquiry is in aid of legislation we will respect the request of Senator Imee,” Castro said.
“DEEPLY DIVIDED”
In calling for the Senate committee probe,
Marcos said Duterte’s arrest “has deeply divided the nation.”
“It is imperative to establish whether due process was followed and to ensure that his legal rights were not just upheld but protected, especially given the involvement of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the International Criminal Court,” Marcos said in a statement.
Marcos said the committee will invite resource persons from the PNP, Office for Transportation Security under the Department of Transportation, National Security Council, Department of Justice, Department of Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and others.
“The Senate must address these critical concerns to uphold the country’s jurisdiction and to clarify policies governing our law enforcement agencies and their engagement with international tribunals,” she said.
“Our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount,” she added.
Senate President Francis Escudero reminded Marcos that the result of the investigation should not create further divisiveness among Filipinos.
“Kung ang concern ni Sen. Imee ay grabe na ang diviseness o pagkakawatak-watak natin, eh di sana ang maging dulo ng kanyang pagdinig ay maghilom tayo at magkaroon ng pagkaka-isang muli at hindi lalo pang dagdagan yung divisiveness o pagkakaaway-away natin. Kung yun ang pakay niya, sang-ayon ako sa pakay niya (If Sen. Imee’s concern is to address the divisiveness we now have, I am hoping that the result of the investigation will be healing and unity, not add up to the divisiveness we are now experiencing. If that is her objective, I fully support it),” Escudero said in a press conference.
Escudero said any Senate committee, not just the Blue Ribbon Committee, can conduct a motu proprio investigation while Congress is on break.
NO BETRAYAL
Meanwhile, Escudero addressed remarks made by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa that the government allegedly “betrayed” Duterte when it surrendered the former president to the ICC.
Escudero said no betrayal happened.
He said the betrayal could have happened only if Duterte was facing a case or cases before a local court related to the case being investigated by the ICC.
If that was the case and the government turned him over to the ICC, that will be considered betrayal.
He noted, however, that no case has been filed against Duterte in local courts in relation to the alleged extrajudicial killings committed in pursuit of his administration’s bloody drug war.
Escudero said: “Yung sinasabing pinagkanulo, wala naman kasing kaso dito eh. So, sino naman at ano naman ang tatakbuhan ng mga biktima dito? Eh nandoon ang naman yung kaso, wala dito. Marahil ibang situwasyon kapag may naghain ng kaso dito, dinidinig yung kaso dito tapos ibabato mo doon para doon na lang magdinig (I don’t think that he was betrayed because there no pending cases filed against him here in the country. Now, who will the victims turn to? The cases are filed there [in The Hague], not here. It could have been a different story if there were cases filed here and then send him out of the country so the case can be tried there),” he said.
“Kung may kaso siyang hinaharap dito sa parehong paksa, parehong krimen diumano, tapos binunot mo mula dito at itinapon mo sa ibang bansa para dayuhan ang duminig ng kaso, ibang situwasyon yun. (Pero) ayon mismo kay pangulong Duterte, wala ni isang kasong nakabinbin dito sa Pilipinas laban sa kanya (If Duterte is facing a case which is similar in nature or of the same nature as the crime he is charged [before the ICC], and then the government surrendered him to another so that foreigners can try the case, that’s a different situation.[But] according to the former president himself, no single case has been filed against him here in the Philippines),” he added.
“There is no Philippine court that is actually hearing the same case,” he said, noting that even Dela Rosa has not been sued for the alleged drug killings.
Dela Rosa has earlier decried that what Marcos did was “betrayal to the max” as he allowed Duterte to be arrested even after allegedly assuring Dela Rosa that the government will not cooperate with the ICC.
SARA IMPEACHMENT
At the same time, Escudero said he sees no reason why the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte should not push through just because of the latest developments in the country.
“Wala namang ugnayan yun – whether nagsabay o nagkasabay, hindi nagsabay . Wala namang nakasulat sa batas na bawal mag sabay (They [the impeachment trial and the former president’s trial in the ICC] are not connected. Whether they are incidentally scheduled on the same day or not, there is nothing in the law which says that they cannot be held on the same day),” he said.
He said conducting the impeachment trial should not be interpreted as a move to outcast or paint a very bad image of the Dutertes.
If the proposed timetable for the impeachment trial will be approved by the Senate, he said the hearings will almost be over once the elder Duterte’s ICC trial starts on September 23.
The proposed schedule for the impeachment trial of the vice president proper will begin after Marco’s State of the Nation Address on July 28.
Escudero said senators have seen the proposed timetable and no one has objected to it. He said he has not even received objections from their counterparts from the House of Representatives.
ROQUE ASYLUM
Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque yesterday said he would file for asylum in the Netherlands, citing his need to stay abroad as one of the legal counsels of Duterte.
“Well, I’m formally announcing that after a meeting today, I’m formally filing for asylum here in the Netherlands. As soon as my application of asylum is received, I do have rights to non-refoulement,” Roque said in a virtual press conference from the Netherlands.
He said non-refoulement, under the international law, means non-deportation until the investigations and trial is concluded.
He said even before Duterte was arrested, he had already been advising the former president about the ICC procedures following reports that a complaint had been filed against him.
Roque, who said that he is listed in the ICC as an international lawyer, said he is also asking for “non-prosecution for illegal entry.”
He said he has to undergo a “whole procedure” and prove that he is an asylum seeker and would have a temporary residence in the Netherlands as soon as his application for asylum is received.
He believes that the warrant issued against him by the House of Representatives quad committee will boost his application for asylum as it proves the “unjust prosecution” against him in the Philippines.
The quad committee had been investigating Roque for his alleged role in connection with the illegal operations of a raided Philippine offshore gaming operations in Pampanga.
Castro said Roque should be challenged to return to the Philippines after he made an appearance in the Netherlands.
LEGAL COUNSEL
Meanwhile, Escudero said the vice president can act as one of her father’s legal counsels in The Hague trial since she is not required to physically attend the impeachment trial.
He added there are likewise no prohibitions which prevents her from acting as such.
He said the only downside is that the electorate may choose not to vote for her anymore should she decide to run for a higher office in the future since she has not been able to religiously perform her job as the country’s vice president even if she is getting paid by the peoples’ taxes.
“Maaaring gamitin yan ng ating mga kababayan sa pagpasya kung iboboto pa siyang muli o hind isa parehong puwestong tatakbuhan niya kung siya’y tatakbo. Pero walang batas na nagbabawal na gawin niya yun sa panahong ito (That can be used by our countrymen to decide if they will vote for her when she decides to run for office. But there is no law which prevents her from doing that at this time),” he said.
At the House, La Unio Rep. Paolo Ortega V said Duterte will most likely spend the rest of his life in jail at the prison facility of the ICC at The Hague where he is facing 43 counts of murder in the crimes against humanity case.
““He is facing 43 counts of murder in the crimes against humanity case. One conviction alone for each count (or killing) is more than enough to put him away,” he said, pointing out that the trial for mass murder alone will take an average of five to six years.
“At least in ICC, we are assured of a very fair trial where nobody – both in the camp of Duterte or even the Philippine government – can exert any form of influence for the judges to rule in their favor. For one, judges were neither appointed by Duterte nor President Marcos,” Ortega said.
The ICC’s website said that while the tribunal does not impose the death penalty, it can sentence a person to up to 30 years of imprisonment and under exceptional cases, a life sentence.
“So, even if you credit and apply, say the last five years of trial, then it would still be a net of 25 years. He will be 105 years old by then. And that is for one murder case alone,” Ortega said.
Unlike in the Philippines where bail can sometimes be granted, Ortega said there is no trial in absentia in the ICC, which means Duterte “has to be there for the whole duration of the trial, just like everybody else.”
Ortega said Duterte’s case should serve as a lesson to abusive world leaders. “We have to bear in mind that power is only temporary. Therefore, we should not abuse power because power is not forever,” he said.
“World leaders should avoid hubris but should rather practice humility. Presidents come and go, and even dictators fade away too,” Ortega said. “As public officials, we have to use our power in the right way and we should always be fair.”
NO COOPERATION
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the House quad committee which investigated Duterte’s bloody drug war, reiterated that the panel will not work with the ICC because the country is no longer a member of it as a result of Duterte’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018.
“We’re not cooperating, we’re not coordinating, and we’re not giving any information that was elicited from the quad-comm hearings. Because we (Philippines) are not a member of the ICC, therefore we’re not obliged,” said Barbers.
Barbers however said that if the ICC can access the committee’s records in the social media platforms, “let them do it that way.” “But asking the participation of the quad, I’m sorry, but we cannot because we’re not a member of the ICC,” he said.
The former President had told the Barbers panel in one of the its lengthy hearings that he was morally and legally responsible for the war on drugs.
The panel has held 13 marathon hearings since August last year into the bloody war on drugs and its links to Chinese-run Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
In a hearing last December, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, the panel’s senior vice chair, delivered the panel’s initial conclusion that the war on drugs allegedly served as a cover for a “grand criminal enterprise” involving high-ranking government officials, systemic corruption and international drug trafficking networks.
The initial findings of the joint panel — composed of the House committees on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts — showed that Duterte and his inner circle allegedly enabled from the drug trade they had publicly vowed to eliminate.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun expressed hope that the ICC will examine how Duterte’s drug war was not just about killings, but allegedly about what he said was a “vast, state-enabled financial network that profited from both the drug trade and money-laundering through POGOs.”
“Ang ICC trial ay hindi lang tungkol sa patayan, kundi sa bilyon-bilyong pisong kinita mula sa dugo ng mga Pilipino. Dapat hindi lang si Duterte ang managot, kundi pati lahat ng nakinabang sa pekeng giyerang ito (The ICC trial is not just about killings but about a billions in peso profit from the blood of Filipinos. Duterte shouldn’t be the only one to be held accountable but all those who benefited from this fake war),” he said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor and Wendell Vigilia
