The rights of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte were upheld during his arrest in the Philippines, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has assured the International Criminal Court (ICC).

DoJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty on Friday, 14 March,  said in a radio interview that Prosecutor General Richard Anthony D. Fadullon made the assurance in a document submitted before the ICC.

Ty said Fadullon verified in the document submitted to the ICC that the government was gentle in the serving of the warrant of arrest.

The DoJ official said that he and Fadullon were present when Philippine authorities took custody of Duterte at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Tuesday, 11 March and had him flown to The Hague.

Ty recounted: “PG Fadullon was among the witnesses in reading the Miranda rights to ensure that the process was followed.”

He said the ICC requires three things from the DoJ on the verification — first, that  Duterte is the subject of the warrant of arrest; second, all of his rights were respected in implementing the warrant of arrest; and, third, the implementation of the warrrant of arrest went to the right process.

Ty said the law states that the Philippines has the option to investigate and prosecute an accused for crimes against humanity in the country or let another court do it.

Ty also said: “Nakita naman talaga na iginalang ang kanyang karapatan (it can be seen that the rights of Duterte were respected).”

The ICC is investigating Duterte over crimes against humanity in connection with the extrajudicial killings that took place during his anti-illegal drugs war when he was still Davao City mayor and as president.

Though the Marcos administration has maintained that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines, Ty cited two bases in getting Duterte arrested.

The bases include as per Ty, “ang pagiging member natin ng Interpol kung saan dapat (our membership with Interpol in which), as a matter of courtesy to other member states, ipatupad natin ang mga hiling ng Interpol kasi ginagawa naman nila para sa atin ‘yun (we should implement the request of Interpol which is doing its job for us).”

Ty said the arrest of Duterte was also based on Republic Act 9851, the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

Further, Ty said the law states that the Philippines has the option to investigate and prosecute an accused for crimes against humanity in the country or let another court do it.

“That was the decision to have ICC handle the case so that’s why we surrendered Duterte to the ICC,” Ty pointed out.