Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte was arrested yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at about 9:20 in the morning immediately after he disembarked from the plane he was riding from Hongkong.
The arresting officers were members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and elements from the International Police (Interpol). According to reports the arrest was based on a warrant allegedly issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that investigated the Crime Against Humanity allegedly committed by the former President and Davao City Mayor. The crime was the offshoot of the bloody anti-illegal drugs war of the former chief executive that led to the death of thousands of Filipinos.
As of the writing of this piece yesterday FPRRD was still inside a quarter of the Villamor Airbase waiting for the completion of the processing of his arrest. It was reported that those who were with the former chief executive inside the quarter were Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro, PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil, and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner. Some close confidants of FPRRD led by Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go were not allowed inside but instead made to wait.
It was also reported that a battery of seasoned lawyers led by former Executive Secretary of FPRRD Salvador Medialdea and former Duterte Labor Chief Silvestre Bello III vowed to do their best to prevent Duterte’s turnover to the ICC.
There are however, several schools of thought on the ICC jurisdiction on the Philippines. One is that our country has unilaterally withdrawn its membership from the ICC. In effect the withdrawal has also terminated whatever accountability the Philippine government has to the international crime body.
There were also those who argued earlier that the withdrawal was not effective as the action has to have the concurrence of Congress. It has none.
Possibly it is on these two premises that the Duterte lawyers will be banking their arguments on when they will block the former President’s turnover to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
We are certain that this development in the Duterte arrest will be in the attention not just of people in the Philippines but all over the world. We can only hope that the partisanship of Filipinos in politics will not be further stoked so as not to cause the ignition of armed confrontations among opposing groups.
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We have no doubt that today the sun is not likely to sit for the remaining hours of the day in Davao City. What with the arrest of Davaoeno former President Duterte who is well-loved, well-respected and feared as well for his no-non-sense style of governance in the city for many years.
His arrest by the agents of the International Police assisted by the country’s own law enforcers will surely be the subject of conversations in every nook and cranny of the city as well as in the sanctums of high-rise air-conditioned offices.
We are even certain that some groups may be touching on ideas that the Duterte arrest may trigger the revival of the movement to separate Mindanao from the current Philippine jurisdiction.
Of course the attainment of the objective of such movement is far-fetched. But there may be some rabid pro-FPRRD persons or groups who would be tempted to venture into such dangerous undertaking. The arrest which many claim as illegal as the order coming from an entity that the Philippines is not a member anymore, may just be the rallying cause for some to boldly come out as leaders of such movement. He, she or they may not be coming directly from Davao City but from other areas in Mindanao that are aggrieved by the deprivation of the former President’s liberty.
But even with this possibility it is the hope of Many – Mindanaoans or not – that calm and sanity of mind will still rein among Filipinos. Amy hasty move as consequence of the arrest will surely lead the country to perdition.
Meanwhile, can the Davao City Council possibly do something to express its and the Davaoenos strong opposition to the arrest of the city’s long-time mayor – say, passing a resolution strongly condemning the government’s facilitating the serving of the ICC arrest warrant?
Can the warring Davao City political leaders, for once, set aside their differences and join efforts to oppose the ICC’s intervention with our sovereignty?
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