Obliging Duterte

His braggadocio came back to haunt former leader Rodrigo Duterte.

Hours after Duterte’s provocative boast last week that the International Criminal Court (ICC) needed to “hurry up” its investigation into his alleged crimes against humanity, the Palace called his bluff.

Malacañang said it would not stand in the way of the ICC if Duterte himself wanted to be investigated. It also emphasized again its obligation to cooperate should the ICC issue an arrest warrant.

Echoing his senior aides, President Marcos Jr. stressed that his administration would neither help nor stop the ICC.

“If that’s the wish of Duterte, we will not block the ICC. We will not just cooperate. But if he agrees to be investigated, it is up to him,” Marcos said.

Informed of the administration’s stand and probably realizing the political gravity of his “thoughtlessness” during the congressional investigation, Duterte backtracked and flip-flopped.

Duterte told reporters last week his stance was problematic. “The problem is there is no jurisdiction. Give me jurisdiction before anything else; before you move there must be jurisdiction first. Do they (ICC) have jurisdiction?” Duterte said.

Duterte’s contention, which he and his allies often insist on, sounded lame.

He conveniently failed to mention that the ICC in fact had jurisdiction despite his self-serving unilateral withdrawal from it in 2019.

In fact, the Supreme Court in 2021 unanimously refuted the Duterte regime’s argument regarding the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction, saying the government must recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction in proceedings or incidents prior to Duterte’s 2019 withdrawal from it.

Political observers said then the SC ruling was an embarrassing setback for Duterte. It remains still, even to the extent that it now has complex implications despite the administration’s adamant refusal to cooperate with the ICC.

What those various implications are will have to be for another time, however. The administration to date hasn’t categorically acknowledged that crucial legal fact and there are no indications it will use it as a battering ram if it ever decides that the government is indeed obligated to cooperate with the ICC.

For the moment, however, the previous Supreme Court ruling is probably vital if Duterte suddenly asks the SC for a temporary restraining order (TRO) targeting government’s potential cooperation with the ICC, as one his prominent critics has teasingly suggested.

At any rate, what we have now is the administration’s recent position significantly marking the first time it suggested cooperating with the ICC.

On its own, government’s pronounced ICC stand is seen as politically charged, particularly at this crucial juncture of the Marcos family’s ongoing brutal pitch battles with the Duterte family. The ICC investigation remains a trump card against Duterte and his allies.

Such high political stakes explains the administration’s caution regarding the ICC issue and is also helpful in explaining its latest stance.

Essentially, the administration is taking tactical advantage of the political opportunity engendered by Duterte himself.

Letting Duterte himself rashly create an opening for ICC intervention, as one keen political observer noted, allows President Marcos Jr. to wash his hands of the politically costly ICC issue while affording him a better position to further squeeze Duterte and his allies at the same time.

Similarly, squeezing Duterte also informs the Palace’s emphasis that it is obliged to comply if the ICC seeks Duterte’s arrest through Interpol. The Interpol arresting Duterte without the cooperation of local enforcement agencies would be difficult, however.

But the administration recently removed that obstacle, with Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra saying that “cooperating with Interpol and cooperating with the ICC are two different things. The first involves a legal duty; the second involves a political decision.”

Either way, such a marked distinction means interesting days and more political fireworks ahead.