Happy birthday, Tatay Digong!

It is unprecedented in history and current events. A man detained for alleged crimes against humanity is now in solitary confinement. Frail and weak since his abduction by plotters in the high echelons of power, flown by chartered jet and surrendered to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, he is the subject of outpourings of compassion and support instead of condemnation.

The circumstances of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s arrest were vague which prompted the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee chaired by presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos to conduct a formal investigation. The probe, however, went around in circles. The characters who were directly involved in the abduction of Duterte sought refuge under a protective blanket called “executive privilege” each time they were cornered.

If the plotters thought they scored a coup by getting rid of the former president, the deafening uproar of Filipinos nationwide and the condemnation of overseas Filipino workers in every nook and corner of the world delivered a foreboding message… “our Tatay Digong” is not alone.

Malacañang tried to seek an outside opinion from the so-called accredited ICC lawyer to buttress the legality of their act of rendering Duterte to the warden of the ICC. His premise, however, was the hollow refrain: Duterte killed more than 30,000 people in his “brutal drug war.”

A priest also butted in, saying there was legal basis to charge the former president, believing hook, line and sinker the figures that were a figment of the imagination of Duterte’s critics. Their hubris preceded them and their problem now is how and where to find the victims to prove and support the veracity of their claims and the basis for a judgement.

Nicholas Kaufman, the chief legal counsel of Duterte, has reviewed the charges leveled against the former president. His initial statement? “Why should he not go back? As far as I’m concerned, he’s being illegally detained here, and he should go back to the Philippines as soon as possible.”

Today, 28 March, the accused Duterte celebrates his 80th birthday in confinement. Outside the ICC, the judges will be astonished to see thousands of Filipinos from all over Europe who traveled great distances to sing him “Happy Birthday,” and millions more around the world demanding his release.

I personally know Mayor-President Duterte up close. Frugal in lifestyle, he always scrimped on his birthday celebrations, preferring to stay home with just family members relishing simple food and three cans of Coke.

This Friday, however, is different. There is an outburst of love and concern from Filipinos worldwide for the man who cleansed the country of organized crime, including the restiveness of the secessionist fronts in Mindanao by giving them the autonomy they had been asking for.

The last vestiges of homegrown terrorism — the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed component, the New People’s Army — have been decimated.

In all the campaigns lives were lost but sadly too there were innocent victims whom the rabid critics of Duterte could not even name. Those responsible for the inadvertence had been charged in court and served their sentence. On the other hand, millions have been saved and this incontrovertible fact is backed by today’s demonstration of rallies nationwide and all over the world.

And why do we see huge crowds of overseas Filipino workers showing up in droves in many cities worldwide? Because they are enraged that the man who made their families safe and sound back home is in jail.

The man in detention is the former president who assured his countrymen peace, orderliness with a guarantee as borne by his uncompromising stand against criminals when he swore: “I do not care if I burn in hell for as long as the people I serve live in paradise.”

Happy Birthday, Tatay Digong. You made it happen.