The movement calling for the return of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the country welcomed on Saturday the enforcement of an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump on 6 February. The order, which takes effect on Sunday, effectively places Duterte under protection from any arrest or prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Benito Ranque, convenor of the Return Duterte Movement, told the Daily Tribune that under the Trump executive order, ICC and Philippine officials allegedly responsible for Duterte’s “kidnapping and detention at the ICC” in The Hague, Netherlands, are now subject to U.S. government sanctions.

The executive order declares that the ICC, as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting the U.S. and its allies.

“We are expecting a freezing of assets and a ban on U.S. entry for all people involved in the so-called Operation Hot Pursuit carried out against Tatay Digong,” Ranque said.

He theorized that aside from ICC officials, Filipinos who contributed to building the so-called crimes against humanity case may also be affected by the U.S. sanctions.

Trump invoked authority granted to him under the U.S. Constitution and laws, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of Title 3 of the U.S. Code.

Ranque quoted Trump as saying: "The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC."

“The White House order will be effective sixty days after its publication on 6 February, which means it will be enforced by the U.S. government starting Sunday,” Ranque added.

Trump’s executive order states: “I therefore determine that any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons, as defined in section 8(d) of this order, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to address that threat."

I hereby determine and order:

Section 1(a).

All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, belonging to the following individuals, are hereby blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(i) The person listed in the Annex to this order; and
(ii) Any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General:

(A) To have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without the consent of that person’s country of nationality;

(B) To have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activity in subsection (a)(ii)(A) of this section or any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(C) To be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of — directly or indirectly — any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into, or any license or permit granted, before the date of this order.

Sec. 5.
Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the President a report on additional persons that should be included within the scope of section 1 of this order.

Sec. 6.
(a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 7.
Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the conduct of the official business of the Federal Government by employees, grantees, or contractors thereof.

Sec. 8.
For the purposes of this order:

(a) The term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b) The term "entity" means a government or instrumentality of such government, partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;

(c) The term “United States person” means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including a foreign branch, subsidiary, or employee of such entity), or any person lawfully in the United States;

(d) The term “protected person” means:

(i) Any United States person, unless the United States provides formal consent to ICC jurisdiction over that person or becomes a state party to the Rome Statute, including:
(A) Current or former members of the Armed Forces of the United States;
(B) Current or former elected or appointed officials of the United States Government; and
(C) Any other person currently or formerly employed by or working on behalf of the United States Government; and

(ii) Any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful resident of an ally of the United States that has not consented to ICC jurisdiction over that person or is not a state party to the Rome Statute, including:
(A) Current or former members of the armed forces of such ally of the United States;
(B) Current or former elected or appointed government officials of such ally of the United States; and
(C) Any other person currently or formerly employed by or working on behalf of such a government;

(e) The term “ally of the United States” means:
(i) A government of a member country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; or
(ii) A government of a “major non-NATO ally,” as that term is defined by section 2013(7) of the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7432(7));