‘Many say that probably Duterte’s biggest regret after his ICC arrest was engaging President Marcos in an intense political rift, which has turned quite ugly and personal.’
IT seems evident that the Marcos administration supported the International Criminal Court (ICC) serving the arrest warrant against Duterte through Interpol. That the Gulfstream jet that took Duterte to the Hague was booked by Malacanang and its trip paid for by the government made it obvious of President Bongbong Marcos’ unequivocal and full cooperation.
The arrest and custody of Duterte by the PNP became more urgent when he told reporters in Hong Kong that he was not seeking political asylum in China, but would rather hide in Mindanao where, he boasted, he cannot be located when the arrest warrant finally comes. From the Palace Press Office, there was no mention or any hint of the government’s reluctance to ensure Duterte’s sudden arrest and hasty deportation to the Hague
The President apparently knew better than to announce in the media that the government had decided to support the ICC and the Interpol in the imminent arrest of the former President, which would have driven the latter to go into hiding.
Another consequence of any kind of mishandling, including allowing Duterte to stay in the country after being arrested, would have triggered mass actions by his followers in Metro Manila and Mindanao.
President Marcos, who started tensely the live presscon an hour after the jet’s departure from the Villamor Air Base, emphasized that the serving of the arrest warrant and the flight to the Hague had nothing do with any commitment to the ICC.
Many say that probably Duterte’s biggest regret after his ICC arrest was engaging President Marcos in an intense political rift, which has turned quite ugly and personal. Many times, he tried to undermine the latter’s leadership with his usual arrogance and insulting rhetoric.
Duterte’s daughter, the Vice-President, also joined in a threatening tirade against the First Couple
More than neutralizing the political power and influence of the main opposition patriarch, the President has shown to the people and the rest of the world his earnest and exceptional compassion and deeply abiding support to the still grieving families of more than 20,000 victims of extra-judicial killings.
In so doing, he has taken a major step in rebuilding the Marcos name tarnished by a brutal dictatorship. He has accomplished a more potent victory, so noble because it is not only his own but of a large group of his people whom he has now lifted from despair and profound injustice.
The following is a compelling view on how Filipinos should regard criminal justice in its real form and not in its current lowly state of oppression and corruption in our country.
From Tessa Magbanua’s post on Youtube: “Did you notice how the ICC handles the proceedings? Cold and clinical, not chaotic and corrupt. Process-driven, not emotion-driven. Unshakeable legal structure, no short-cuts, no padrino. Duterte is now trapped in a system that does not bend to power. He is up against a machine that follows only one thing: The Law. And in the Hague, you cannot kill, silence, or outmaneuver the law.
“The same man who once boasted about silencing critics now faces a court where his excuses, influence, and manipulations are meaningless. Duterte’s camp came unprepared, thinking they could derail the process. The ICC? No patience for drama, just a strict, surgical takedown of every excuse. For Filipinos tired of seeing the corrupt and powerful escape justice, watching the ICC handle this case is beyond satisfying, a masterclass in legal precision. It’s a reminder of what real justice looks like, cold, methodical and unstoppable.”
