Transactional politics back in business

Former President Rodrigo Duterte being collared at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, executed under an Interpol warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), marks a troubling return to the transactional politics that has long defined Philippine governance.

The administration’s decision to cooperate with the ICC — despite years of insisting the tribunal had no jurisdiction over the Philippines after it withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 — raises questions about motives, sovereignty and the specter of foreign meddling, according to an international law expert.

Containing Duterte is all about consolidating power ahead of the May midterm elections. The once solid Marcos-Duterte “UniTeam,” forged in 2022 with Duterte’s daughter Sara running for vice president, had crumbled into bitter feuding.

Sara’s threats of assassination and to desecrate the remains of the Marcos family patriarch only sharpened the divide.

“The volte-face is all about the equation of power. By allowing Duterte’s arrest, a strong rival is neutralized while lackeys of the administration burnish their image as enforcers of law and order, palatable to Western allies who cheer the ICC’s intervention,” the law expert said.

The ICC, based in The Hague, is seen by critics as a tool of Western powers, imposing alien standards on a nation with a working judicial system, however flawed.

The transaction involves a deal where sovereignty is traded for political survival, with justice as a byproduct rather than the goal.

The Philippine National Police acting on an Interpol Red Notice at the behest of a foreign court only fuels the meddling narrative.

The hypocritical Human Rights Watch hailed the arrest of Duterte as “a critical step for accountability,” but the transactional nature of the move undermines its moral weight.

“If the administration truly cares about justice, why not pursue a domestic probe with teeth, rather than outsourcing it to a foreign court he once rejected?” the law expert said.

Cooperation with the ICC also exposes a deeper malaise: the Philippine elite’s reliance on external forces to settle internal scores.

The return of transactional politics shows the character of governance where principles bend to power, and foreign hands tip the scales.