Anarchist’s bovine manure

Putschist Antonio Trillanes IV is spewing his patented venom in a pathetic effort to revive a dead political career by making a big deal of supposed classified papers on the probe into the war on drugs.

The discredited yellow acolyte has long associated himself with the filing of the crimes against humanity charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC) but he has been foiled successively due to the government policy of non-cooperation with the intrusive tribunal.

According to Trillanes, based on an unverified document, former police chiefs Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde, along with three other minor police officials, are considered prime ICC suspects.

The other police officials Trillanes cited are PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and former PNP chief intelligence officer Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta.

Trillanes claims the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the five former and current officials of the Philippine National Police “have committed crimes within its (ICC’s) jurisdiction.” He went on to say that former president Rodrigo Duterte “is the principal suspect,” without showing proof.

Senator Dela Rosa was the first PNP chief under the Duterte administration and the implementor of the former president’s war on drugs.

“Under Article 54(1)a of the Rome Statute, the OTP is obliged to conduct investigations which cover all the facts and evidence. This includes providing individuals under suspicion a chance to give their version of events. In this context, the OTP has reasonable grounds to believe the following retired and serving members of the Philippine National Police have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP,” according to the document that Trillanes showed in his social media account.

Legal experts had shut down the ICC on two accounts even if the President suddenly reverses the government’s position of non-cooperation.

The ICC investigation into the war on drugs clashes with basic legal precepts, according to international law experts.

It violates the principle of “ne bis in idem,” which is commonly known as double jeopardy, a universally held principle that says a person cannot be charged for the same crime twice.

The complaints on alleged summary killings in the conduct of the war on drugs are being prosecuted in domestic courts.

The Pacific McGeorge School of Law asked in a paper if in a situation where a state has prosecuted an accused for an “ordinary” crime of murder or rape, can the ICC subsequently try the accused for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity?”

“While there is no definitive answer from the ICC as yet, the better answer to the question is ‘no,’” according to the paper.

It added that the ICC cannot intrude when the accused has been tried, whether convicted or acquitted, for the “same conduct, whatever the legal characterization is of the crime.”

The only exception is when there is “a sham trial, meaning that the purpose was to shield the accused from responsibility or the proceedings were otherwise lacking in independence or impartiality in a manner that was inconsistent with bringing the accused to justice.”

Such an effort to shield personalities in the Philippine judiciary system has not been proven.

Cases involving so-called extrajudicial killings, or EJK, are all being litigated in local courts.

The complementarity principle is another factor that goes against the ICC proceedings.

This principle means that the court will complement, but not supersede, national jurisdiction.

Local courts continue to have priority in investigating and prosecuting crimes committed within their jurisdictions.

The ICC’s presence is allowed only when national courts are “unable or unwilling” to perform their tasks.

Let Trillanes, the inconsolable iconoclast, make all the inane noises he wants — they’re all in aid of his desperation for a long shot at a Senate seat.