Chiz: Sovereignty not compromised with Duterte arrest

MANILA, Philippines — With no cases yet filed in local courts against former president Rodrigo Duterte, his arrest and flight to The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity cannot be considered a surrender of the country’s sovereignty, Senate President Francis Escudero said yesterday.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Escudero stressed that the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not remove the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Duterte’s case.

“In the first place, those who filed the case before the ICC are Filipinos and not foreigners. It’s also Filipinos who decided to do this,” Escudero said.

He said that as emphasized by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, “there was no foreign interference involved, and there is no pending case against Duterte here that would justify removing from a Filipino judge jurisdiction over this case and transferring it to a foreign court.”

“In the case of former president Duterte, there is no pending case for him to confront, and that is the venue chosen by the victims and complainants in their pursuit of justice,” Escudero explained, referring to the ICC.

Dumpster

At Malacañang, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the country would end up in a dumpster if the likes of Vice President Sara Duterte were to take over.

Castro was responding to a recent tirade by Duterte against the administration in The Hague, where she told supporters that “it seems that we are working to go to the dumpster” and “we are on this road to perdition.”

Duterte had also claimed Filipinos were losing their hope in the administration that they hardly see.

“Nawawala ang pag-asa ng mga Pilipino? Hindi ba siya iyong nawawala sa Pilipinas ngayon (Filipinos are losing hope? But isn’t it she the one who is missing in the Philippines today)?” Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

The Vice President has been in The Hague since March 13. She says she has to be in The Hague to oversee the defense of her father.

“Wouldn’t we be more likely to end up in the dumpster if our president or leader were people like VP Sara, who prioritizes going abroad?” Castro said.

She said the Vice President was out of touch with the ongoing programs of the government.

“Our President, who she claims we no longer have hope in, is in the Philippines, working. Every day we announce good news. But the Vice President, where is she?” Castro said.

She reiterated her call for Duterte to return to the country and do her job.

Opposing rallies

Meanwhile, cause-oriented groups led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan are set to hold rallies in the Philippines and in other countries on the 80th birthday of the former president tomorrow.

While overseas Filipino workers who support Duterte are planning to mount a zero remittance week to protest his arrest, Bayan and its allied groups will mark the former president’s birthday with calls for justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs and anti-insurgency campaign.

“EJK victims are no longer alive to celebrate their birthdays. On March 28, we will light candles to mourn their deaths and call for justice,” Bayan president Renato Reyes said in a statement.

The group will hold a rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila from 3 to 6 p.m., Reyes said.

It is also set to launch the Duterte Panagutin Justice Now Network in The Hague. Demonstrations will also be held in France, United Kingdom and Belgium.  –  Emmanuel Tupas, Helen Flores