MANILA – Critics of former president Rodrigo Duterte hailed his arrest as ordered by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the charge of crimes against humanity.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who led the filing of charges against Duterte before the ICC eight years ago, thanked those who joined them in their quest to held the former President accountable for his bloody war on drugs.
“Nung 2017, nag-file ng kaso ang Magdalo sa ICC laban kay Duterte. After eight years, sa wakas nahuli na rin ang berdugo,” Trillanes said in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.
“Sa lahat ng nakasama namin sa mahabang lakbay na ito para sa hustisya ng mga libu-libong EJK (extra-judicial killing) victims, maraming salamat po!” he added.
Former senator Leila de Lima, who was jailed during the Duterte administration for her alleged involvement in illegal drug trade, said it is now time for the former Chief Executive to face the court as the pursuit of justice continues.
“This is deeply personal for me. For almost seven years, I was imprisoned on fabricated charges, accused of crimes I did not commit — all because I dared to speak out against Duterte’s drug war. While I was behind bars, thousands of Filipinos were killed without justice, their families left to grieve with no answers, no accountability,” De Lima said in a social media post.
“I faced my case, knowing I was innocent. I stood before the courts because I had nothing to hide. Duterte now has to answer for his actions, not in the court of public opinion, but before the rule of law. This is how justice should work — those in power must be held to the same standards as everyone else,” she added.
“Today, Duterte is being made to answer — not to me, but to the victims, to their families, to a world that refuses to forget. This is not about vengeance. This is about justice finally taking its course,” de Lima further said.
‘UNLAWFUL ARREST’
Meanwhile, former chief presidential legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo said the arrest of former President Duterte was unlawful as the Philippine National Police did not allow one of Duterte’s lawyers to meet him at the airport and to question the legal basis for Duterte’s arrest.
“He was deprived of legal representation at the time of his arrest. The PNP could not have a hard copy [of] the warrant arrest. By not allowing one of his lawyers to meet him, the arresting [officer] could avoid being asked if they have the hard copy of the arrest warrant,” Panelo said.
“It is an illegal arrest because the ICC arrest warrant comes from a spurious source – the ICC which has no jurisdiction over the Philippines,” he added.
Panelo pointed out that the government action would make the arresting team as well as the public officials ordering the arrest criminally liable.
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, on the other hand, enjoined the supporters of Duterte to stay calm and instead pray for the former president’s health.
“Dasal po. Ipagdasal natin si Tatay Digong. Mga kababayan ko, minahal tayo ni Tatay Digong. Ipagdasal natin siya, ipakita natin ang ating pagmamahal sa kanya sa pagdarasal,” said Go.
The former President was slapped with the complaints before ICC over his administration’s war on drugs, where thousands of individuals were killed.
In a meeting with overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Hong Kong on Sunday, Duterte addressed talks on the arrest order, saying that his actions during the war on illegal drugs were for the Philippines’ benefit.
The ICC has been investigating Duterte and other top officials of his administration for crimes against humanity over the killings in police operations in relation to his bloody drug war.
These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups said that the deaths were as much as 30,000, including vigilante killings.
During Duterte’s term in 2019, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute or the treaty that established the ICC, after the tribunal started a probe into his controversial drug war./PN
