The government has been put on the defensive due to the rapid transfer of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), following the findings of a recent investigation by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
The committee’s report is expected to bolster the ICC defense strategy for Duterte, which hinges on the claim that his rights were violated in the Philippines during his arrest by the Philippine National Police, potentially paving the way for his early release.
“He was completely denied all his rights in the Philippines. That would obviously be a major argument in the course of his defense,” said British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s lead counsel.
The Senate panel’s report has the “smoking gun” as panel chairperson Sen. Imee Marcos termed it since Duterte’s apprehension was marred by procedural irregularities, including a lack of transparency and due process.
Marcos noted that the operation was rushed and left many questions hanging, such as the legal basis for complying with an Interpol request when the Philippines no longer recognizes ICC authority.
The inquiry revealed that the Philippines had no legal obligation to arrest or surrender Duterte to the ICC. The country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect in 2019, thus stripping the ICC of jurisdiction.
The preliminary report dwelt on the revelation by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla of a “core group” that planned the operation to arrest Duterte.
Remulla claimed the early phase of the operation was only a rumor, which the report disputed.
A core group within the administration made plans to arrest the former president even before the ICC warrant was issued, according to the report.
Then a media coverup happened of the comprehensive plan to arrest the former president being in place even before the 11 March date indicated on the ICC warrant.
Police units were mobilized on 10 March; National Security Adviser Eduardo Año tracked Duterte’s movements; and executive officials said the administration would cooperate with the ICC if an arrest request came through Interpol. Ironically, Año was Duterte’s Interior Secretary during his administration.
The report cited glaring violations of the rights of the former president.
No warrant was issued by a local court which is a gross infringement of the rights of an accused since the arrest did not fall under the exceptions to a warrantless arrest.
But government officials said the prosecutors present at Duterte’s arrest served as the competent judicial authority in place of a local court.
The panel also found inconsistencies in the manner Duterte was swiftly flown out to The Hague without exhausting domestic legal remedies or clarifying the extent of Interpol’s role in the arrest.
Senator Marcos said the process was “blurry, teeming with gaps, and full of loose ends,” suggesting violations of Duterte’s rights and, worse, a violation of national sovereignty.
The senator also expressed concern that the arrest and handover deepened national divisions.
The preliminary report stopped short of a definitive conclusion, indicating the inquiry is ongoing.
The findings jibe with Kaufman’s confidence that Duterte will be acquitted.
“I’m very confident of the strongest defense possible and I am very confident that he will be acquitted, even in the earliest stage possible,” he said.
In their haste to eliminate a prominent opposition figure, the conspirators overlooked the possibility their scheme could backfire spectacularly.
