Fall of the mighty

Fall of the mighty | Daily Tribune

The world never seems to be at peace. This is the legacy the Christian faithful and the believers in the origin of Creation liken and attribute to Adam and Eve’s Fall from grace and subsequent banishment from Paradise for committing a sin against the Creator. This sin of disobedience was born of the sin of pride, of wanting to be as powerful as the Almighty who would rule above all.

The inevitability of the Fall, the retribution and the subsequent banishment of our forefathers meant Man would experience untold suffering until death, until the end of time. And until today, this otherworldly inevitability plays on and on with the mighty reigning supreme until their inescapable fall.

History is replete with tales of the fall of the mighty. The Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire are prime examples of how the once mighty have fallen.

The events of the past few days have sent shock waves through the nation. At first, the rumors that were spreading virally that the former President had taken a hasty trip to Hong Kong with an unusual entourage, including his legal counsel, to evade an impending arrest were considered outlandish and dismissed as more fake news attributable to the intensifying political battle between two powerful political forces positioning for the 2028 presidential elections.

Or it was simply a prelude and an attention grabbing media event to drum up publicity for the Duterte camp’s initial sortie into Hong Kong, a heavily Pinoy populated administrative region of China with thousands of OFWs who are traditionally his followers in order to drum up support against Sara’s ongoing impeachment. But as fate would have it, the former president decided to return home amid rumors that China was not prepared to provide him a ring of protection from the clutches of the International Criminal Court.

This proved to be a miscalculation as the local police authorities immediately arrested Duterte upon his arrival. And then the political drama commenced with the images of the partner and daughter of the former president desperately trying to prevent the police led by a stern and unbending police general from bodily hauling him to the waiting chartered jet that would bring him to The Hague.

This scene was fully played out on live TV and dutifully recorded by social media for millions of astounded citizenry to watch over and over in disbelief. Was this really happening? A strong man who had with great impunity scoffed at the ICC itself for initiating an investigation into his reported bloody campaign against drug dealers, pushers and users, and who even had the audacity to deride the Pope and the Catholic Church officialdom for daring to criticize him for his war on drugs, would now be made to account for his misdeeds.

The Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire are prime examples of how the once mighty have fallen.

Whether his forcible detention and transport to the ICC was legal or not is now being debated by millions of bystanders. Millions are undoubtedly taking sides but unlike in so many instances in our history when justice was perceived to be skewed in favor of the ruling faction of political leaders, this time around, a politically neutral ICC will be Lady Justice who will determine the fate of the former president, and if he is found guilty of crimes against humanity, will dispense what he rightly deserves.

Part of the heated argument is that we are giving up our sovereignty to a foreign institution, ridiculing in the process the integrity of our judicial system, that it cannot be relied on to move swiftly and objectively without undue interference from the powers that be.

But in truth, rightly or wrongly, for whatever reasons, I believe the reality on the ground is that the wheels of our justice system indeed grind very slowly, particularly if it involves the mighty. And it was precisely for this reason the ICC was created, to ensure accountability for the gravest offenses and to prevent impunity for such crimes. If there is a lesson to be learned here, it is the impermanence of power and for the arrogant ones who believe they are untouchable, the day of reckoning will surely come, even for the mighty.

Until next week… OBF!

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